While France has 75,000 Internet subscribers high-speed fiber optics, Maxime Lombardini, Chief Free said that France has everything to expedite the arrival of this new technology into homes. While some question the framework put in place in France to deploy fiber, Free hand, considers that promotes investment and competition and allows the French to receive subscriptions less expensive in Europe. Free calls within the regulation, its competitors to invest with him in fifty common.
LE FIGARO. – France takes it from behind in the deployment of fiber optics?
Maxime LOMBARDINI. – Quite the contrary, France is ahead. The advent of fiber optics in homes is accelerating.After three years of work, France is at the forefront in Europe, thanks to a very successful framework that enables rapid deployment of fiber networks without digging sidewalks and minimizing interference in the condominium thanks for sharing. In addition, this framework allows consumers to freely choose their provider and gives them the cheapest in Europe. In France, subscriptions to fiber costs 30 euros a month, against more than 100 U.S. dollars. Operators will deploy fiber in the condo together for 5 million homes in the dense areas. Four operators have begun deployments significant.Result, there will be at the end of the year more than 100,000 subscribers to the optical fiber (FTTH), and hundreds of thousands in late 2011.
Why do operators do not they do more advertising for the fiber?
We do not launch national campaign as the fiber is not everywhere. But when a neighborhood or a town is connected, we inform our ADSL subscribers and the people that for the same price, we offer very high-speed fiber. They have therefore a very fast internet access. Other immediate benefits they can receive television via their optical box on multiple televisions, enjoy high definition, the catch-up TV, 3D programs, etc..
France Telecom has called on its competitors to co-invest with him on a fifty Commons. Free is he leaving?
Sure.We have responded positively to France Telecom, which will pose a dedicated fiber to each home to Free bundle. For Free, this represents an investment of tens of millions of euros. We ourselves will today call for co-investment in more than 50 towns, including Paris, Nice, Marseille, Toulouse, Nantes, representing nearly 3 million potential catch. We ask that interested operators to respond to us by early July.
How much will you invest?
In fiber optics, Free has taken 2 million and 1.5 million work in the study. I confirm that we have 4 million homes connected with fiber in 2012. We signed agreements with condominium units representing 350,000. Free has invested 350 million euros in the fiber to date in 2010 and will invest over 150 million. The creation of direct and indirect employment is significant.All this shows that we are in a phase of very concrete investment and our motivation to deploy broadband is strong.
This hampers Does the deployment in parallel, on your mobile?
No. Free has the means to pursue these two sites in parallel: in 2010, over 2 billion turnover, the group will spend more than $ 750 million to capital spending, while remaining one of the least indebted telecom operators to Europe.On mobile, the deployment is well underway, and we, again, created over 1,000 jobs directly and indirectly.
When towns and villages can they expect to be connected to fiber optics?
If governments continue to encourage all operators to invest and participate in construction through big loan, we can begin to connect the less dense areas in 2011.
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