France Telecom-Orange and SFR have signed an agreement that marks a step forward in the deployment of optical fibre outside very densely-populated areas of France.

Out the 11 million households outside very dense areas that are covered by the fibre deployment plans drawn-up by France Telecom-Orange and SFR, 9.8 million are in agglomerations where both operators have redundant deployment projects. Under the agreement, SFR will serve 2.3 million of these households and France Telecom-Orange will serve 7.5 million.

The initiative by the two groups is a new step following the deployment plans that each submitted to the Commissariat Général à l’Investissement (the State investment agency) in response to the latter’s request for detailed information on its plans to invest in High-Speed Broadband networks (Appel à Manifestation d’Intention d’Investissements).

Each party agrees to cover each commune no later than five years after the deployment process has started.

In total, including deployment in very densely-populated areas, fibre will reach nearly 60 per cent of all French households by 2020, thanks to private-operator investment.

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