Broadband News
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France plans strategic investment in fibre
17 Dec 2009 | 15.09 Europe/London
Like just about every other country in the world France has a digital master plan – to bring broadband to the entire country by 2010 – but there wasn’t any money to make it happen, until this week.
President Nicolas Sarkozy has confirmed that a €35 million scheme to inject more public money into the economy would go ahead. The money comes in the form of a strategic investment, which has become known as “le grand emprunt” – the big loan. As a result, the digital economy in France is in line for a payout of €4.5 billion – €500 million more than originally expected.
€2 billion will go towards network deployment, to help local authorities that want to invest in fibre networks. The aim is to encourage shared investment, with the public sector and industry joining forces to nearly double the available capital.
This is a model that French local authorities have successfully used in the past, when they partnered with second tier telecoms operators to build fibre networks connecting telephone exchanges in rural areas. This time, however, the target is likely to be fibre-to-the-home, especially in the so-called “white” areas where the market wouldn’t otherwise invest. These alternative operators look set to benefit from public money again.
The other €2.5 billion of the loan will be allocated to digital content and new applications. The loan also includes a component for commissioning a satellite to bring broadband to 750,000 households in rural areas. Furthermore, the French Parliament has just passed a law on digital inclusion, which may call on funding from the loan.
President Nicolas Sarkozy has confirmed that a €35 million scheme to inject more public money into the economy would go ahead. The money comes in the form of a strategic investment, which has become known as “le grand emprunt” – the big loan. As a result, the digital economy in France is in line for a payout of €4.5 billion – €500 million more than originally expected.
€2 billion will go towards network deployment, to help local authorities that want to invest in fibre networks. The aim is to encourage shared investment, with the public sector and industry joining forces to nearly double the available capital.
This is a model that French local authorities have successfully used in the past, when they partnered with second tier telecoms operators to build fibre networks connecting telephone exchanges in rural areas. This time, however, the target is likely to be fibre-to-the-home, especially in the so-called “white” areas where the market wouldn’t otherwise invest. These alternative operators look set to benefit from public money again.
The other €2.5 billion of the loan will be allocated to digital content and new applications. The loan also includes a component for commissioning a satellite to bring broadband to 750,000 households in rural areas. Furthermore, the French Parliament has just passed a law on digital inclusion, which may call on funding from the loan.