Digital bonus could provide 100mb for all
October 17, 2007
From Sotires Eleftheriou in Paris
The French Consultative Commission for Telecommunications has asked the government to use part of the digital bonus – the spectrum liberated after analogue switch-off – to be used to improve internet access to the population. Guy Roussel, head of Ericsson France and chairman of the commission, said that the freed spectrum is a 'fabulous resource' and should not go entirely to the broadcasting and telecoms sectors.
The commission's recommendation was that part of the freed resource be used to provide high speed Internet on the move as well as in the home and in areas where optical fibre will not reach. “By 2012, heavily populated areas will have 100 Mbit/s, while the rural regions will have to be content with 512 kbit/s,” added Roussel.
Meanwhile, another operator, Alice (Telecom Italia) announced that it was going to invest in cabling France with optical fibre for consumer broadband. This brings the total to five after France Telecom, Iliad (Free), Neuf and Numericable.