In this
month's issue:Arcep’s Ambition 2030, making digital an instrument for good; testimonial from a regulation pioneer on the road travelled since 1997; digital tech’s share of the carbon footprint in France revised to 4.4%; restoring mobile networks in Mayotte; technicians grappling with copper wire theft; procedures for awarding spectrum to satellite telecom operators.  | Reading time : 10 minutes. |
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 | Editorial |
“Our ambition for 2030: outfit the country with digital infrastructures that are accessible everywhere, to everyone and for a long time to come”
By Arcep Chair, Laure de La Raudière. We can expect to see major changes in the tech industry in the coming years. As testified by the upcoming AI Summit in February, 2025 promises to be key in shaping the sector’s future, and potentially its regulation. After dialogue-driven work with regulated stakeholders, users, local authorities and researchers, the forward-looking inquiries of the “Future Networks” committee, and the observations drawn from its agents’ expertise on the ground, I had the pleasure of unveiling Arcep’s “Ambition 2030” strategy. It states our ambition to outfit the country with digital infrastructures for the coming decades, and to ensure that the internet remains an area of freedoms. These infrastructures providing fixed and mobile internet access, access to the cloud, to artificial intelligence and to data sharing must be accessible everywhere, to everyone and for a long time to come. 
9 objectifs stratégiquesThis ambition is structured around 9 strategic objectives, whose concrete implementation is detailed in this document: - Finalise the transition to ultrafast access for everyone;
- Guarantee businesses’ connectivity and create a more competitive market;
- Ensure the quality, sustainability and resilience of electronic communications infrastructures;
- Improve and share knowledge of digital technology’s impact on the environment;
- Take action to reduce this impact;
- Foster economic development through data and innovation;
- Foster more freedom of choice in cloud services;
- Work to open digital markets and AI systems;
- Promote an updated press distribution system and showcase the value of newsagents.
Through this new positioning, through its regulation and the voice it lends to Europe and internationally, Arcep will continue creating the conditions for making digital an instrument for good, make our businesses competitive, to empower individuals, and for our society as a whole. Designed to be sustainable, it must also benefit future generations. In other words, in 2030, digital must once again be a source of inspiration and synonymous with human progress. It must no longer hold people captive in closed ecosystems and subjected to infinite scrolls of addictive content; hamstringing developers in their work and their ability to access customers, but stimulate their capacity for innovation; exhaust our planet’s resources instead of working to preserve them. Arcep intends on bringing this ambition to life by pooling the expertise of all of the organisations with a stake in our digital society: regulatory authorities and administrations, private sector players, civil society, academia and tech user representatives. Our Authority will continue to promote a shared understanding of the sector’s issues and challenges, and the dialogue that is so vital to our work and our decision-making. On behalf of Arcep, I wish you all the very best for this new year. To find out more: |
 | Ambition 1997 |
“Start with a two-row, two-column spreadsheet, and invent regulation”By François Lions. 2019-2025: Arcep Executive Board member. 2005-2019: Arcep deputy Director-General. 1997-2005: Head of the Economics and Competition Department at the ART (now Arcep). When I was leaving Arcep, Laure asked me to recount its history – I who was there at its creation (known then as ART) and, before that, had participated in preparing to open the market up to competition. It is necessarily a personal, partial and biased view, and I know a few people who would be able to perform the task far better than I. ART was created under auspicious circumstances: a well-constructed Telecommunications Regulation Act (LRT), whose policy aim was to reconcile a full opening up to competition, keeping the universal service and, from the onset, coordinating ART’s actions with those of the Competition Authority. 
Reputed economists and international expertsIn terms of economic principles, the high-level group chaired by Paul Champsaur was created in 1996. It included reputed economists, such as Jean-Jacques Laffont, and international experts. It made it possible to clarify concepts that were still fuzzy at the time, and which were also the subject of lively debate during multilateral meetings with the sector, notably over interconnection pricing and its associated costs. It also managed to raise the clear distinction that needed to be made between financing the universal service and remunerating an interconnection service. With this in mind, ART’s roadmap in early 1997 was simple: prepare for opening the market to competition as of 1 January 1998, notably by approving the “interconnection catalogue” for the France Telecom telephone network. Unlike the mechanism that currently governs “reference offers,” this was a system of prior approval of the technical and (necessarily cost-based) pricing conditions. One circumstance that helped ART considerably: a request for a ruling submitted in 1995 by mobile operator SFR on the conditions governing access to France Telecom’s fixed network. Under conditions that would make our current lawyers shudder, this ruling was rendered in three months... CONTINUED |
 | Regulation
in action |
Mayotte: Arcep inventories frequency needs to restore and strengthen the networksThe passage of cyclone Chido in the archipelago of Mayotte caused massive human and material damage, and fixed and mobile network infrastructures were not spared, which only further complicated the lives of the people living there. To rapidly restore access to telecommunications and internet services across the territory, Arcep accepted requests for temporary frequency licences. On 20 December of last year, it published a public consultation whose purpose was to inventory stakeholders’ needs for additional spectrum to strengthen the capacity of mobile networks that are being put under particular strain, as fixed connectivity is virtually non-existent. The temporary assignments that Arcep could issue would seek to offset the risks of overloading mobile networks while work is being done to restore infrastructures, particularly in cases where they would be used to provide fixed access services as a stopgap solution before deploying superfast fixed networks. No fixed optical fibre network has yet been deployed in Mayotte. Before being ravaged by Chido, close to 99.9% of the population had 4G coverage outdoors and 99.6% had voice and texting coverage indoors, according to the latest coverage data published in September 2024. |
 | Digital
sustainability |
ADEME-Arcep report update: digital tech represented 4.4% of the carbon footprint in France in 2022Commissioned by the Government, ADEME and Arcep had produced an unprecedented study devoted to estimating digital technology’s environmental footprint in France in 2020. This “ADEME-Arcep” study rapidly became a reference, cited in multiple reports, including two from the World Bank and ITU, due to both its ambition and its rigorous and transparent methodology that other national regulators could replicate. To continue to document the progression of digital technology’s environmental footprint, ADEME has just published an update to this report with data from 2022 and now including overseas data centres that host French traffic (which had not been factored into the previous report, due to a lack of reliable data). With the inclusion of these data, digital technology’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are estimated at 29.5 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2022, or 4.4% of the carbon footprint in France (versus 17.2 million in 2020, before the incorporation of new parameters).
Data centres’ impact represented 46% of GHG emissionsThis means that digital technology’s GHG emissions are virtually equal to those of the heavy truck sector. This increase is due largely to the aforementioned expansion of the scope of the study, but also to an increase in usage, which is only likely to continue with the explosion of generative AI in 2023 and 2024, and which already led Microsoft and Google to announce in 2024 that they had renounced on meeting the emissions reduction targets they had set for 2030. This update highlights the fact that, even if production and end-of-life management for digital devices still account for the majority of environmental impacts, whether in terms of exhausting metal and mineral resources or contributing to climate change, data centres’ impact represented 46% of GHG emissions in 2022! This impact is tied to the ongoing increase in our digital consumption, whose current trajectory is incompatible with meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement. |
 | Figure of
the month |
Why does Arcep asses the net cost of certain La Poste public service obligations?Arcep is responsible for assessing the net cost to La Poste of carrying out its regional development, universal postal service and press transportation and delivery mandates. The Government has imposed a number of obligations on La Poste, including the operation of 17,000 points of contact across the country, mail delivery six out of seven days of the week, and delivering press publications to their subscribers. On 17 September of last year, La Poste submitted its net cost estimate for carrying out its mandate to transport and deliver press publications to subscribers to Arcep: 146 million euros in 2023.
Call to renegociationCalculating the net cost consist of comparing “the net cost assumed by the service provider when fulfilling its obligations and the cost or net profit to that same provider when it does not fulfil it”. This exercise requires, for instance, estimating the impact that higher postal rates would have on press titles and so on reader demand, or on print media publishers using press delivery companies for distribution to their subscribers. This process creates the ability to verify that the Government is not overcompensating La Poste. With the approval of the European Commission, France compensates the postal operator for fulfilling this obligation. In a recent Opinion, Arcep also noted that the deficit of this public service activity of press distribution via the postal service had increased significantly. As a result, it calls for a renegotiation of the agreement between print media publishers, La Poste and public authorities, to be able to steadily eliminate this shortfall by taking into account the principal of territorial continuity of press distribution. To find out more: |
 | Field notes |
An Orange technician explains a copper network maintenance call to Arcep Chair, Laure de La Raudière. In Angers, Orange shows Arcep the work it is doing to maintain copper network qualityOn 27 January, Arcep Chair, Laure de La Raudière, travelled to Angers to talk to Orange about its copper network preventive and curative maintenance needs. Maintaining quality of service on this network is indeed a priority, particularly in those locations where fibre has not yet been deployed. Laure de La Raudière also answered questions from newspaper Ouest France about copper wiring theft, which has become an added challenge. Arcep representatives were also able to observe technicians performing maintenance work in the town of Languenée-en-Anjou, and to discuss a range of local connectivity issues with deputy Anne-Laure Blin and some twenty local officials. “Académie du raccordement/Connection Academy”, a local initiative to improve the quality of work in the fieldThe “Académie du raccordement” (Connection Academy) in an initiative managed by the Pyrénées-Atlantiques joint association to train and certify fibre connection technicians (professionals and job seekers). Presented to Arcep Chair, Laure de La Raudière, in December 2023 during her trip to Pau, the endeavour brings together ISPs, infrastructure operators, training organisations and local partner businesses. The one-day training course includes a theoretical component (QCM based on InfraNum compendium of best practices), practical exercises on various scenarios (underground and overhead connections, etc.), followed by a jury assessment. Technicians who pass obtain a “certificate of competence for 64 connection work” or CAR64. The initiative is also showcased online (“Home – Telecoms professions”) which compiles documentary resources (from ANCT, Arcep, Infranum, etc…) as well as job opportunities and useful links. |
 | Pass it
along! |
“Submarine Cable Map”On its website, Telegeography, a telecommunications market research company, hosts a world “Submarine Cable Map” of the submarine cables needed for internet connection. Type of cable, main route, length, landing, activity start date, owners… the map provides a host of information on every deployed cable. A useful resource for better understanding the crucial role these infrastructures play, and to observe the growing role that tech companies are playing in their deployment.
Common charger becomes a realityOn 28 December of last year, European legislation imposing a common charger came into effect in France. Digital device manufacturers must now include a USB-C port in charging mechanisms. The aim of this measure is to simplify users’ life and thereby slightly reduce digital technology’s environmental footprint: 11,000 tonnes of electronic waste every year can be directly attributed to the disposal of unused chargers. According to the ADEME-Arcep study, a person in France produces an average of 301 kilos of electronic or raw material waste per year, just from their digital practices. |
| Arcep, telling it like it is |
How are the frequencies needed to operate a satellite internet network assigned?Satellite telecommunication solutions have been developing over several decades to meet a range of needs, including ultrafast internet access, communications in the highs seas and rescue operations. Traditionally made up of solutions provided by geostationary satellites, as is the case in France, for instance, with the fixed internet access services provided by Orange subsidiary, NordNet. With the development of constellations in low-earth orbit (LEO), however, new consumer and business solutions have emerged in recent years, and rekindled interest in these satellite technologies. Examples include the firms Starlink and OneWeb, both of which use a network of non-geostationary satellites to provide internet access services. This rapid development has also raised a number of questions over these new players’ obligations and their frequency requirements, for which they must submit a frequency licence request to Arcep. Spectrum resources are public resources, and their occupation by private enterprise is regulated.
Specific concerns about LEOIn accordance with the principles defined by the French Postal and Electronic Communications Code (CPCE), Arcep manages requests from players wanting to use these frequencies to provide electronic communication services, including operators wanting to establish and operate a satellite network, or provide a satellite service. When it receives a frequency licence request, among the points that Arcep examines are the operator’s compliance with technical conditions for limiting interference, conditions for safeguarding fair and effective competition, and verifies the frequencies’ availability. When examining the request, Arcep may be brought to submit it to public consultation before making its decision, to obtain feedback from all of the stakeholders (economic and institutional stakeholders, associations and users). This makes it possible to identify any technical or competition issues that the request might raise. These frequency licence requests also carry an obligation to pay licensing fees due to the general State budget, and which proportionate to the bandwidth of the assigned frequencies. Operators must also have submitted a request to register their satellite network to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and satisfy associated non-interference and coordination requirements. During its “Satellites and the environment” event (co-hosted in November 2023 with CNES and ADEME), Arcep raised the issue of the environmental impacts specific to LEO satellite constellations. In only five years, the number of active satellites had increased from just over 2,000 units to more than 10,000 in 2024, and Starlink alone plans on launching tens of thousands of them into orbit in the coming years. To find out more: |
 | Calendar |
Mark your calendars!7 February, Paris Future Generations Tribunal: “Can AI save the planet?”At the AI Summit being held in Paris from 6 to 11 February, Arcep is teaming up with eight other institutions to host a free and open event on AI’s environmental footprint: the “Future generations tribunal” (TGF). TGF is a format created by the magazine Usbek & Rica that borrows from a courtroom trial to interrogate and debate issues that imbue our present and shape our future. After a series of testimonies, oral and closing arguments, the public will deliver its verdict, can AI (yes or no) be part of our climate change objectives?
We'll be there9 February, Paris Event on the issues surrounding access to the infrastructures and energy required by AI as part of the AI SummitA satellite event to the AI Summit is being hosted by AFNUM at the Canadian Embassy, with special guest, Clara Chappaz, the Deputy Minister responsible for AI and digital technology, and Arcep Chair, Laure de La Raudière. It will be devoted to the availability of the infrastructures and energy needed to deploy AI. 11 February, Paris AI Summit Forum on AI’s environmental footprintParallel to the Summit’s main discussions between heads of State and government and public figures on the overarching shared actions to be taken, close to 100 other events will be taking place that are open to everyone (civil society, businesses, administrations, associations, etc…). One of these events, a forum hosted by the Ministry for the Green Transition, will explore AI’s environmental footprint and the actions that need to be taken to make it sustainable. 11 February, Paris Delivery of the FNCCR Com’Publics Guide to “Safeguarding ethical, sovereign and safe digital technology” The Arcep Executive Board will attend the presentation of the FNCCR (National Federation of local authorities for network-based services) and Com’Publics Guide on “Safeguarding ethical, sovereign and safe digital technology” to which Arcep contributed. The purpose of this guide is to explain to businesses and public sector players why it is so crucial to adopt reliable solutions that protect individual freedoms for local authorities and their users. It also provides a primer on European regulations such as NIS2 (which ANSSI presented in last year’s November issue of The Post). 24 to 27 February, Guiana Trip to Guiana for fixed and mobile connectivity talksArcep Chair, Laure de La Raudière, along with Arcep’s “Connected Territories” department, will be travelling to Guiana for several days, to take stock of the issues specific to this vast territory, 96% of which is forest. Bespoke regional development has been examined for the most isolated communities, to be able to provide the local population with high-quality connectivity. This includes using alternative ultrafast solutions to fibre. Guiana is also a strategic territory, home to a submarine cable that connects to Portugal, and recently became a member of the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU).
We were there7-11 January 2025, Las Vegas CES (Consumer Electronics Show)Arcep Chair, Laure de La Raudière, and three Arcep staff members attended CES, “the most powerful tech event in the world,” which is held every year in Las Vegas. The goal for the Arcep delegation was to take the pulse of emerging digital practices, to gauge future connectivity needs and to take stock of the latest developments in tech market regulation in the US, through bilateral meetings with startups, major corporations and American institutions. Among the key themes of this year’s CES were digital health (personal assistance and wellness services) and mobility (autonomous vehicles, smart shuttle sharing). |
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