France Telecom-Orange first made its FTTH fibre-optic network available for third-party operator access last year, when it signed agreements with Free and SFR in the second part of 2011.
This is part of France Telecom-Orange’s long-term strategy to bring fibre-optic networks to 60% of French households, covering 10 million homes by 2015, and a further 5 million more by 2020. It estimates the total cost of this network will reach €2 billion by 2015.
Part of the agreement with Bouygues Telecom covers the largest 148 municipalities in France, which are labelled “very densely populated areas” by ARCEP, the French regulator. France Telecom-Orange will provide a service to share its optical fibre network leading to the foot of buildings in these municipalities, potentially reaching 1.7 million homes. Bouygues Telecom will then have to build its own networks or subscribe to cable-sharing offers within these buildings.
Outside the very densely populated areas, Bouygues Telecom has subscribed to the wholesale cable-sharing offer for the terminal part of France Telecom-Orange’s FTTH network, giving potential access to 8.9 million homes in France.
In a statement, France Telecom-Orange referred to this partnership with Bouygues as “a testimony to the constructive spirit in which it is operating with the other market players.”
