France - Telecoms Infrastructure, Operators, Regulations - Statistics and Analyses
France has the third largest telecoms market in Europe. The incumbent, France Telecom (Orange), is one of the world's major players with interests in markets across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (MEA). The company recently embarked on its five-year Essentials 2020' program which is focussed on the emerging MEA markets as well as on investments in super-fast broadband and LTE infrastructure within its European markets. Despite market liberalisation, the company still dominates all sectors though increasing competition from a number of major players (notably Numéricable-SFR and Iliad) has gradually eroded this lead, prompting it to respond with a range of innovative offers and wide-ranging strategies to meet future customer needs. It is also investing in a national fibre network, largely in response to the activities of smaller players in this market. The mobile sector is dominated by four providers, complemented by an increasing number of MVNOs which together have a market share of around 10% of subscribers. The vibrant broadband market has seen strong growth as a result of regulatory measures promoting competitor access to exchanges through local loop unbundling, as well as to fibre infrastructure and ducts.
This report introduces the key aspects of France's telecom market, providing valuable updated statistics on the country's fixed network, an analysis of operator strategies in coming years, and a review of the key regulatory issues including the status of number portability, wholesaling and carrier preselection.
Key developments:
Digital Republic bill to provide the telecom regulator with authority to oversee net neutrality and open internet access; Bouygues Telecom sets up Objenious subsidiary dedicated to the Internet of Things; Bouygues Telecom and Orange enter acquisition talks; Orange sells Orange Dominicana to Altice for 1.05 billion; ACE submarine cable connecting France with African markets extended; Orange opens its first 400Gb/s per wavelength cable; Orange sets up Orange Horizons subsidiary to exploit potential in new markets, sets out five-year Essentials 2020 strategy; telecom investment recovers from 2009 downturn; AAE-1 subsea cable to connect France with south-east Asia by end-2016; Orange withdraws from some markets; report update includes the regulator's market data updates to Q4 2015, operator data to Q4 2015, recent market developments.
Companies covered in this report:
Orange, Iliad, SFR, Numéricable
- 1. Synopsis
- 2. Key statistics
- 3. Country overview
- 4. Telecommunications market
- 4.1 Market analysis
- 5. Regulatory environment
- 5.1 History
- 5.1.1 Revised NFR
- 5.2 National legal framework
- 5.3 France NumErique 2012
- 5.4 Regulatory authority
- 5.4.1 Communications and Postal Regulatory Authority (ARCEP)
- 5.5 Telecom sector liberalisation in France
- 5.5.1 Privatisation of France Telecom
- 5.5.2 Interconnect
- 5.5.3 Access
- 5.5.4 Number Portability (NP)
- 5.5.5 Carrier PreSelection (CPS)
- 6. Fixed network operators in France
- 6.1 Market overview
- 6.2 Orange (France Telecom)
- 6.2.1 Difficulties ahead
- 6.2.2 International strategies
- 6.2.3 2015 Action Plan
- 6.2.4 Essentials 2020
- 6.2.5 Rebranding
- 6.3 Numéricable-SFR
- 6.3.1 Acquisitions
- 6.3.2 Numéricable merger with SFR
- 6.4 Free (Iliad)
- 6.5 Bouygues Telecom
- 7. Telecommunications infrastructure
- 7.1 National telecom network
- 7.2 Next Generation Networks (NGNs)
- 7.3 International infrastructure
- 7.3.1 Submarine cable networks
- 7.3.2 Satellite networks
- 7.3.3 Wholesaling
- 7.3.4 Cloud services
- 8. Smart infrastructure
- 8.1 Internet of Things (IoT)
- 8.2 Smart Cities
- 9. Related reports
- Table 1 Country statistics 2015 (e)
- Table 2 Telecom revenue and investment statistics 2014
- Table 3 Telephone network statistics 2015 (e)
- Table 4 Internet user statistics 2015 (e)
- Table 5 Broadband statistics 2015 (e)
- Table 6 Mobile statistics 2015
- Table 7 National telecommunications authorities
- Table 8 Telecom service investment 2002 - 2014
- Table 9 End-user traffic volume in minutes by sector 2002 - 2015
- Table 10 End-user traffic growth by sector 2002 - 2015
- Table 11 Proportion of telecom revenue by sector 2009 - 2015
- Table 12 End-user telecom market value by sector 2003 - 2015
- Table 13 End-user telecom market value annual change 2003 - 2015
- Table 14 End-user monthly bill by service 2010 - 2015
- Table 15 Fixed lines subscriptions by type 2003 - 2015
- Table 16 Fixed-call termination charges 2008 - 2013
- Table 17 Interconnect revenue 2007 - 2014
- Table 18 Interconnect traffic 2007 - 2014
- Table 19 Unbundled and bitstream lines 2009 - 2014
- Table 20 Fixed numbers ported annually 2005 - 2015
- Table 21 Indirect connections 2006 - 2015
- Table 22 Annual change in carrier preselection usage 2002 - 2014
- Table 23 Orange customers by sector (France) 2006 - 2015
- Table 24 Orange retail voice lines 2007 - 2015
- Table 25 Orange Group financial data by sector 2008 - 2015
- Table 26 Orange (domestic) financial data 2007 - 2015
- Table 27 Orange (domestic) telecom capex 2008 - 2015
- Table 28 Orange retail and wholesale lines 2006 - 2015
- Table 29 Numéricable-SFR subscribers 2006 - 2015
- Table 30 Numéricable-SFR financial data 2005 - 2015
- Table 31 Numéricable-SFR telecom capex 2008 - 2015
- Table 32 Free revenue by segment 2006 - 2015
- Table 33 Free telecom capex 2007 2014
- Table 34 Free DSL, LLU subscribers 2005 - 2014
- Table 35 Free subscribers by sector 2011 - 2015
- Table 36 Bouygues Telecom subscribers by sector 2005- 2015
- Table 37 Bouygues Telecom financial data 2005 - 2015
- Table 38 Fixed-lines in service 2011 - 2016
- Table 39 Proportion of fixed lines by technology 2004 - 2015
- Table 40 France Telecom wholesale broadband lines 2005 - 2015
- Chart 1 Telecom service investment 2002 2014
- Chart 2 End-user traffic volume in minutes by sector 2002 2015
- Chart 3 Proportion of telecom revenue by sector 2009 2015
- Chart 4 End-user telecom market value by sector 2003 2015
- Chart 5 Fixed lines subscriptions by type 2003 2015
- Chart 6 Orange customers by sector (France) 2006 2015
- Chart 7 Orange Group financial data 2008 2015
- Chart 8 Orange (domestic) financial data 2007 2015
- Chart 9 Orange retail and wholesale lines 2006 2015
- Chart 10 Numéricable-SFR subscribers 2006 - 2015
- Chart 11 Numéricable-SFR financial data 2005 - 2015
- Chart 12 Free revenue by segment 2006 2015
- Chart 13 Bouygues Telecom financial data 2005 2015
- Chart 14 France Telecom wholesale broadband lines 2006 2015
- Exhibit 1 EU The New Regulatory Framework (NRF)
- Exhibit 2 Access and the local loop