This story was originally published at www.samknows.com. I don’t plan to cross-post all the stories I write for SamKnows, but this project seemed to be huge significance. I will be following its progress with interest.
The European Commission has given the green light to the largest ever government-backed fibre-to-the-home project in Europe.
THD92 is a €422 million (£386 million) project that will bring next-generation broadband to some 829,000 homes and businesses in the Hauts-de-Seine region of France. (THD stands for très haut débit, meaning “very high speed”, and 92 is the number of the Hauts-de-Seine département.)
The EC has approved a subsidy of €59 million for the project, paid for by the Conseil Général des Hauts-de-Seine. The subsidy is regarded as compensation for the cost of connecting homes that would otherwise be uneconomic to reach.
This is a landmark decision for fibre projects because the Hauts-de-Seine, in the western suburbs outside Paris, is one of the wealthiest areas in France, it has good first-generation broadband infrastructure, and there are already several operators rolling out fibre in the area.
The French project is the first to be assessed using the new European guidelines on the public funding of broadband networks. The EC concluded that “the public funding amounting to €59 million would be used to offset the cost of complying with the obligations of a service of general economic interest imposed following an open and transparent tendering procedure, and did not therefore constitute state aid.”
The decision also has a certain political significance: the Hauts-de-Seine département happens to be the home of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who kick started the THD92 project back in 2004 when he was president of its council.
Like other municipal fibre projects in Europe, THD92 has taken a long time to get off the ground. The network was put out to tender in 2006, and the contract awarded at the end of 2007, before it became ensnared in red tape. And although the project has received a blessing from Brussels, other operators could still mount legal objections.
“The EC approval will allow work to start, even if it does not extinguish the other appeals against the project,” said Avicca, an organisation representing French local authorities, in a statement.
The tender to build and operate the network was won by Sequalum, a consortium that is majority-owned by cable TV operator Numéricable, along with the construction group Eiffage and high-speed network specialist LD Collectivités/Groupe SFR. Sequalum will act as an “operator’s operator” laying dark fibre in the ground (an optical fibre that is sold and installed but not connected to active equipment), and marketing that fibre to the firms that supply the end-user.
If all goes according to plan, the first subscribers could be hooked up as early as next year. The timetable calls for just over half the users to be connected within 3 years, and the network rollout to be completed by 2015.
France: landmark decision for fibre projects
This story was originally published at www.samknows.com. I don’t plan to cross-post all the stories I write for SamKnows, but this project seemed to be huge significance. I will be following its progress with interest.
THD92 is a €422 million (£386 million) project that will bring next-generation broadband to some 829,000 homes and businesses in the Hauts-de-Seine region of France. (THD stands for très haut débit, meaning “very high speed”, and 92 is the number of the Hauts-de-Seine département.)
The EC has approved a subsidy of €59 million for the project, paid for by the Conseil Général des Hauts-de-Seine. The subsidy is regarded as compensation for the cost of connecting homes that would otherwise be uneconomic to reach.
This is a landmark decision for fibre projects because the Hauts-de-Seine, in the western suburbs outside Paris, is one of the wealthiest areas in France, it has good first-generation broadband infrastructure, and there are already several operators rolling out fibre in the area.
The French project is the first to be assessed using the new European guidelines on the public funding of broadband networks. The EC concluded that “the public funding amounting to €59 million would be used to offset the cost of complying with the obligations of a service of general economic interest imposed following an open and transparent tendering procedure, and did not therefore constitute state aid.”
The decision also has a certain political significance: the Hauts-de-Seine département happens to be the home of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who kick started the THD92 project back in 2004 when he was president of its council.
Like other municipal fibre projects in Europe, THD92 has taken a long time to get off the ground. The network was put out to tender in 2006, and the contract awarded at the end of 2007, before it became ensnared in red tape. And although the project has received a blessing from Brussels, other operators could still mount legal objections.
“The EC approval will allow work to start, even if it does not extinguish the other appeals against the project,” said Avicca, an organisation representing French local authorities, in a statement.
The tender to build and operate the network was won by Sequalum, a consortium that is majority-owned by cable TV operator Numéricable, along with the construction group Eiffage and high-speed network specialist LD Collectivités/Groupe SFR. Sequalum will act as an “operator’s operator” laying dark fibre in the ground (an optical fibre that is sold and installed but not connected to active equipment), and marketing that fibre to the firms that supply the end-user.
If all goes according to plan, the first subscribers could be hooked up as early as next year. The timetable calls for just over half the users to be connected within 3 years, and the network rollout to be completed by 2015.