“Orange has been pedaling in semolina for ten years”, the agglomeration of Brive attacks the operator

by time news

It is a rant of the agglomeration of Brive, in Corrèze. It is calling on the government to break the contract binding it with Orange, accused of delays in the deployment of optical fiber on its territory, in addition to heavy financial penalties against the operator, she announced on Tuesday.

“Orange has been treading water for ten years. We are asking the State to declare the defaulting operator” to “release the contractual obligation” linking Orange to this agglomeration of 80,000 inhabitants within the framework of a “call for expression of investment intention (Amii)” managed by the State, explained its president and mayor of Brive Frédéric Soulier (LR). According to this intercommunality of 48 municipalities, Orange has not, to date, kept its commitment, made in 2010, to install “by 2020” fiber throughout the territory, bringing together era 14 communes.

12% of the population is still not connected

The operator had reiterated its “legally enforceable” promise several times in 2011 and 2018, assures the Corrèze conurbation, extracts from letters from the operator in support. Two years after the end of the deadline, 12% of the population of the territory still does not have “access to optical fiber” because of “the contempt of the operator”, denounces Frédéric Soulier. According to the mayor of Brive, Dorsal, a local mixed union specializing in digital technology, has made it possible to fully equip the 34 remaining, mainly rural municipalities in the area “in less than two years”.

In a letter sent Tuesday afternoon to the Telecoms Regulatory Authority (Arcep) and to the Prime Minister, the agglomeration demands the breach of the contract to allow the mixed union to “take back control” on the site, added Frederic Soulier.

The agglomeration will also ask the government to apply up to 25 million euros in penalties against Orange for “non-compliance with commitments”, which “will be used to pay Dorsal for the finalization of the network”.

In France, the government has announced the objective of a country with full fiber by 2025. According to Arcep data, in September, 32 million premises were eligible for FttH offers (Fiber to the Home, or Fiber optic home) in France.

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