2023-06-01 16:30:06
At 60, the senator (Les Républicains) of Ain Patrick Chaize could not imagine making the buzz on TikTok. All it took was a fifty-second video montage taken from a hearing in the Senate, March 22, of Xavier Nielthe owner of Free (and individual shareholder of the Monde), so that his name goes around the social network. We see the boss of the telecom operator, who promised, in January 2022, to freeze his prices for five years, choking after a remark by the senator on his “aggressive pricing policy”.
The video has racked up ten million views. Xavier Niel even went there with his click: he republished on Twitter a message relaying the sequence, embellished with numerous comments against a senator “who drives for Orange”, according to one of them. Afterwards, the founder of Free sent an email to Mr. Chaize to regret this excitement.
The senator from Ain admits that the “Xavier Niel’s retweet on the video editing was not very nice”, but says not to blame him: “I have great respect for people who have succeeded from scratch, and I appreciate his conviction. »
“His proposed law is a calamity”
Above all, it is not the black anger of the boss of Free who will shake him: Mr. Chaize has already alienated the whole sector. The cause ? A bill on the quality of fiber optic connections. THE operators don’t want to hear about itworried about losing control of this project and being obliged to compensate disconnected subscribers.
The Minister for the Digital Transition and Telecommunications, Jean-Noël Barrot, and the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications, Posts and Press Distribution (Arcep) are also not entirely convinced by the effectiveness of such a law. But the senator can count on the support of his colleagues: his proposal was passed unanimously by the Senate on May 2 and is waiting to be placed on the agenda of the National Assembly.
“His proposed law is a calamity”tackle, on condition of anonymity, the leader of an operator, without understanding why the elected representative of Ain ” in a loop “ on the optical fiber. Would he take advantage of a mainstream subject to shine politically? “I am rather at the end of my career and very happy like that”denies the former mayor of Vonnas between 2008 and 2017, a town best known for its three-starred restaurateur Georges Blanc.
Would it be to have a law in his name? “I checked the box with the Digital Environmental Footprint Act 2021”, he replies. And if it was then to serve hidden interests? “He is insensitive to lobbies. He is simply determined that the country has a quality network.retorts Philippe Le Grand, the president of InfraNum, the federation of digital infrastructure professionals, yet “not in favor of his bill”.
You have 53.51% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.
#Patrick #Chaize #senator #viceminister #telecoms