Tag: France

Article – French language

Bientôt un débit de 100 Mbit/s à la Réunion – DegroupNews.com

My Comments

La Réunion has raised the bar for Internet-service value through that Département Outre Mer which is located near Madagascar. The cost of Internet was previously a sore point in that island with some pretty high prices in the order of €50-€60 for full triple-play as I previously touched on.

But Zeop have raised the bar by providing a 100 Megabit bandwidth fibre-optic service to all of their customers. But a good question to raise is how much are the residents and businesses going to fork out for this service. This is an attempt to raise the bandwidth at one of these DOM territories to what is expected at France’s mainland.

France could work harder to make all of the Départements Outre Mer be “axis points” for many international telecommunications services links, whether as “on-ramps” for submarine cables or as satellite uplinks. The local governments could work harder to improve local infrastructure as well as attract startup business in these territories making the whole of France the “switched-on” country.

Article – French language

La fibre optique de Google pourrait arriver en France – DegroupNews.com

My Comments

As regular readers of HomeNetworking01.info know, I have been keeping tabs on the highly-competitive Internet market in mainland France a.k.a. L’Héxagone where the call for a triple play service is €25-30 for at least 20Mbps ADSL Internet service, heaps of television channels and all-you-can-eat telephone calling anywhere in France. This also is the same country with Free offering a fibre-optic next-generation broadband service with dedicated 1Gb bandwidth for €30 in some of the major cities.

Now Google, who have set the cat amongst the pigeons in Kansas City and are about to do so in some other US cities like Provo, Utah by offering fibre-optic next-generation broadband Internet service, are pitching to this highly-competitive market as their first foray outside the USA.

They are setting up registered offices in both France and Ireland and are lodging paperwork with ARCEP (France’s telecommunications regulator) to become a legitimate operator in that market. Of course, there is still a fair bit of worry about American businesses encroaching on French territory as the country claws back its industrial self but this could raise the bar further when it comes to the provision of the next-generation broadband in this lively market.

For Google, it may also be the time for them to rattle other European markets that don’t have the same lively competition as France, such as Spain and Italy. As long as we see them light the fire for competitive next-generation broadband Internet in Europe, they could then be seen of value there.

Articles – French language

La Freebox Révolution accueille Freebox OS – DegroupNews.com

Mise à jour Free : capacités de partage renforcées | 59Hardware.net

My Comments

Just lately, Free had rolled out their latest firmware update for the Freebox Révolution “n-box” router. This has various improvements like cloud-assisted remote management and storage access, including management of the “FreePlug” HomePlug AV power-supply units for these devices.

But they describe this firmware not as firmware for customer-premises equipment but as “Freebox OS”. This is like placing the Freebox Révolution on the same stage as one of the recent consumer or small-business network-attached storage devices. Here, they lay out the management dashboard for this device so it reminds you of a desktop operating system’s GUI, This is carried over whether you use it from a Web browser or the freely-downloaded iOS or Android mobile apps.

They also are publishing an application-programming interface so that third-party software developers could create management programs for the Freebox Révolution. This could allow for things like management software which works native to particular host-device operating environments through improved dashboard software.

But who knows what is in store for this device once the groundwork is laid down in this operating system. For example Free could start curating an app store and software-development environment for the Freebox Révolution so that others could add functionality to this device. Think of such options as access to third-party cloud storage, additional application-level gateway functionality and, perhaps, adding business-grade features like VPN-endpoint or VoIP “virtual extension” abilities to a consumer-grade device.

It is another example of the lengths the French telecommunications companies are going to to yield multi-play Internet services that are facilitated with highly-capable equipment.

Article – French language

Fibre optique : le gouvernement lance une mission pour débrancher l’ADSL- m.01net.com

My Comments

France – another area to go full-fibre

It is not just Australia where there is a drive to head towards fibre-to-the-premises broadband. The same situation is also happening in France where a government committee is working on supplanting the country’s copper telephone network with a fibre-based next-generation broadband network.

They have an interim goal for a report by end of 2013 with a final roadmap by end of 2014, which will detail how and when to go about this project and who is being affected. An issue that was being raised was implementing VDSL2 which theoretically yields 50Mbps over a short copper link for areas where fibre isn’t practical or affordable. This technology was just lately accepted as a communications technology by ARCEP who are the governing body for France’s telecommunications.

There was also the Intent to indemnify France-Télécom because, as a classic telecommunications operator and being a spinoff of the Postes Téléphones Télégraphs government body, they own the copper network. This is similar to what has happened with Telstra in Australia when it came to the NBN.

I also see issues that are likely to be raised about the difficult parts of France Métropolitaine (L’Héxagone) and the Outre-Mer territories where fibre-optic installation may be considered difficult or costly. Could this also invoke implementation of technologies like fixed wireless?

Similarly, the competitive nature of France’s telecommunications and Internet-access sector could place requirements on this goal such as whether to cover more or less territory quickly. It can also encompass protection of competitive access to the new infrastructure such as the “multifibre” method or the “single-fibre” method.

It would be interesting to see who else would be daring to head down the full fibre-to-the-premises route while dumping copper for their telecommunications and Internet infrastructure.

Article

thinkbroadband :: Paris suburbs to benefit from FTTH network

My Comments

While the Australian political parties are bickering on about the pros and cons of a fibre-to-the-premises service compared with a fibre-copper (fibre-to-the-node) service for the National Broadband Network, plans are underway to cover the Parisian metropolitan area in France with a fibre-to-the-premises next-generation broadband service.

They pitched €20 million to the effort with France Télécom (Orange) and SFR behind the effort. This is intended to be a public effort with the Ile-De-France regional government standing behind the effort but it will exclude the city of Paris which would be the actual Paris CBD (downtown) area.

It seems like this kind of effort with two private companies who have their own infrastructures working towards a better infrastructure is considered ludicrous in the English-speaking world. But the mindset that drives Continental European business can allow for co-operation on larger projects and improved technology. Similarly, the idea of a national, regional or local government assisting private companies in a public-private effort to work a project may also be considered ludicrous especially when you hear of conservative governments in the US and Australia making efforts to cut down on public-funded broadband deployments.

I have written about the issue of having public assistance in private efforts to roll out broadband-Internet-improvement projects in order to prevent redlining and to allow areas that could be covered to be covered. Why can’t this practice be readily accepted when it comes to rolling out a broadband-improvement project in the UK, USA or Australia – is it too much a political hot potato?

Article – French language

Vidéo : Les box d’opérateurs au banc d’essai#?xtor=RSS-16#?xtor=RSS-16#?xtor=RSS-16

Link to video / Lien à vidéo

My comments and English-language summary

The video is comparing the “n-boxes” which are the hub of the triple-play services which are covering the highly-competitive French market as most regular HomeNetworking01.info readers will know. It also compares the triple-play services themselves for value, customer service and prowess in satisfying the pay-TV and video-on-demand needs.

I would also suggest that you have a look at my article on setting up for Internet in France if you are winging it in to that country to set up house there.

From the video

Here, we are dealing with a highly-competitive market where there is encouragement for innovation. Most of the “boxes” featured here offer an integrated Blu-Ray player as well as pay-TV and out-of-the-box console gaming as far as entertainment is concerned.

They also are the hub of your home network, offering a router, VoIP analogue-telephony adaptor and network-attached storage, as well as being the start of a DLNA Home Media Network.

Articles – French language

DegroupNews

Dordogne : le calendrier du très haut débit se précise – DegroupNews.com

L’Aquitaine se prépare au défi du très haut débit

My Comments

In France, there are greater plans to cover the Aquitaine region with next-generation broadband. This time, the Dordogne (24) département is now part of the blueprint to deliver this service through the region. Previously they have established the Lot-et-Garonne and Gironde départements as part of the effort. Initially the effort will be focused on the Gourdine and Bergerac population centres.

There has been work undertaken on coverage in the Bordeaux, Biarritz and Pau population centres with initial involvement from energy companies in that area.

Initial plans require the fibre trunks to be laid after 2015 and the work complete after 5 years.

France Télécom / Orange will be primarily behind the effort as far as the infrastructure is concerned. But a good question to raise is whether there will be local or regional public investment in the effort? This is although most rural-broadband-improvement / next-generation broadband efforts in the UK and France have a fair bit of public investment from local government.