France - Telecoms Infrastructure, Operators, Regulations - Statistics and Analyses

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