The modernization of the fixed telephony network in France will take place by 2030. Orange, which is the owner of this historic network, has been working on it since 2020. The system will be implemented in several waves: during a first, 162 municipalities in France , including five in the Centre-Val de Loire region, all in the Cher (between Vierzon and Bourges) will no longer have access to a fixed telephone subscription on the copper network as of January 31, 2025. It will be replaced by fiber.
A second phase, which will concern 22 municipalities in the region, including surely two in the Loiret (whose names are not yet known), is still under consultation and should end in November 2025.
They don’t want a cell phone antenna in Olivet
But, why replace this copper network? “The more we advance in time, the more it ages and it is likely to have breakdowns”, underlines Jean-Marc Escalettes, director of Orange Grand Ouest (Brittany, Pays de la Loire, Normandy and Centre-Val de Loire).
“This network will be withdrawn. Moreover, the fiber network consumes three times less than the copper network.”
395,000 interventions on the copper network in one year…
But, do not panic, the copper will not be removed before the installation of the fiber in the municipalities: “Yes, this decommissioning of the copper will be fixed on the arrival of the fiber”, adds Jean-Marc Escalettes.
“Everything must already be fiber-optic and for those who cannot be, which is very rare, we have alternative solutions (satellite offers or boxes that connect to 4G).”
The Orange Grand Ouest director then detailed the benefits of switching from the copper network to fiber, mentioning:
- reliability (a network insensitive to water and lightning),
- speed (fiber is sixty times faster than ADSL) and
- the capacity aspect (the fiber carries more data).
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NL article
Orange, for example, had to intervene 395,000 times for problems on the copper network, in one year in the Centre-Val de Loire… “ADSL is reaching its limits, concludes Jean-Marc Escalettes. Fiber will carry us towards the future.”
A map to find out where the deployment of optical fiber is in the municipalities of Loiret in October 2022
Alban Gourgousse
