Telecoms and audiovisual: the first step to getting along, is listening

Some portray audiovisual media and telecommunications as brothers at war. I don’t see it that way. Networks and the creative process form a virtuous circle wherein each feeds to the other’s bounty. In today’s world dominated by Big Tech, the future audiovisual act is an opportunity to offer up a shared vision, one that goes beyond the “narcissism of petty differences” we can sometimes get stuck in by the issues we tackle on a daily basis. It is in this spirit that Arcep has made three proposals to enable audiovisual services to be masters of their destiny in the digital transformation.

This is the same state of mind that drives Arcep when considering the future of digital terrestrial TV (DTT). Having reflected on the consequences that changing user habits, the growing popularity of TV over IP boxes, on mobiles or simply online have had on terrestrial broadcasting reception (rooftop antennae), in June Arcep proposed putting an end to 12 years of regulating broadcasting service provider, TDF. Does it make sense to maintain a pro-competition action confined to only terrestrial technology, in perpetuity, at a time when more and more avenues are being used to broadcast TV programmes, at the expense of terrestrial? Would it not be wiser to provide these avenues with the guarantee that they too can access these new options under good conditions?

This proposal nevertheless surprised stakeholders, and Arcep is committed to being a good listener. The regulator must send out the right signals to support technological transitions, but also to set the right pace. This is why Arcep ultimately decided to postpone its decision for two years, during which time the current regulation will remain in effect, and so give stakeholders the time they need to make the transition. This decision will result in the publication of a new document in the coming weeks.

In exchange, Arcep is calling on industry stakeholders and public authorities to listen to the warning it is sending out about the emergence of new intermediaries between TV channels and viewers. Currently required to negotiate with ISPs for access to their boxes, TV channels – which will increasingly become apps not only on the TV screen, but also on other screen-based devices and smart speakers – will have to negotiate with the internet giants to be able to reach TV viewers. With the resulting danger that our shared culture will have to bow down to the almighty market overlords.

If thriving innovation starts off as a good thing, let us also keep in mind that, in the past, we were able to extract from the rules that govern the market, methods for distributing cultural content, and to guarantee a principle of free and universal access to knowledge. This is the idea of cultural exception, which we find reflected in the single price charged for books, press distribution, and to some extent net neutrality as well. This is the principle that needs to be revived for the digital age, so that we can continue to come together over a shared culture.

Sébastien Soriano, Chairman of Arcep

Field notes

“The real concern for elected officials is monitoring disruptions on the legacy copper network”

Sébastien Soriano, accompanied by Arcep staff members, attended the annual conference of France’s National association for elected officials from mountain regions (ANEM), which took place on 18 and 19 October in Morteau, in the Doubs. He took the opportunity to deliver a progress report on the New Deal for Mobile, and spoke with Marie-Noëlle Battistel, the association’s outgoing president, Annie Génevard and Jeannine Dubié the current president and Secretary General, and with Sébastien Lecornu, the Minister responsible for local authorities. The questions from elected officials in attendance concerned mainly fibre and 4G network coverage in the regions.

For the president of ANEM, however, “the real concern for elected officials is monitoring disruptions on the legacy copper network”. Elected officials cited a litany of problems: “fallen lines,” “repairs made in very slow increments”, “up to two months waiting”, “work only partially done, in several stages”… Sébastien Soriano reported that Arcep is “in the process of verifying the indicators and, if the findings are unacceptable, will do something about it”. (NB: Orange has since been issued a formal notice to remedy the situation).

The following day was spent visiting fibre (FttH) rollouts in Gilley and Combes, a town of 750 inhabitants, where 98% of homes have been passed for fibre by the Doubs THD joint association, and over 60% subscribe to a fibre plan. President of the joint association, and department vice-president, Denis Leroux reiterated the objective he was given by the department: “Cover 100% of the department with FttH by the end of 2022, i.e. two years ahead of the initial target date”.

Meanwhile in Brussels...

On 20 September, the European Regulators Group for Postal Services (ERGP) hosted its first ever “Stakeholders Forum” in Brussels. The event brought together postal, digital and e-commerce market stakeholders to discuss the future of regulation, around the central theme of: “When digital meets postal – Evolution or revolution?”

A chance to discuss the challenges and opportunities being ushered in by the tremendous growth of e-commerce in Europe. Andreas Marschner, Amazon’s VP of Transportation services for the EU, identified, for instance: 365-day shipping a year, the development of innovative technologies for ensuring delivery in the last drop (even with the recipient is absent), cutting out the maximum number of middlemen in the logistics chain to ensure even faster delivery.

There is also no shortage of challenges on the regulatory front: ensuring transparency, affordable prices, reliability, consumer protection… Let the debates begin! ERGP has begun a series of projects, with a view to delivering an opinion to the European Commission in summer 2019 on possible reforms to the Postal Directive.

Arcep, telling it like it is

Arcep is moving!

On 19 November, Arcep will be moving to a new neighbourhood, and new offices in Paris’s 12th arrondissement. All of Arcep’s Secretariat General teams have been working for months to ensure this giant move goes smoothly.

Moving means:
- Finding the right place, among the 33 locations chosen, 20 buildings visited, 6 buildings shortlisted, a lease to negotiate, compliance with the financial and surface-area criteria set by the State Property Management Department;
- Office planning in a new building, which required coming up with the optimum configuration for open and collaborative work spaces, and a liberated government organisation;
- But also… calls to tender held in accordance with the rules of public tenders, dozens of assessment and dozens of monitoring and evaluation tables, workshops, over 400 boxes of archives, very funny moments, some hair pulling, a final stretch, four weeks before D-Day for the 170 Arcepians who, we hope, will feel right at home in no time!

5 and 6 November in Paris
Autumn Trip 2018 symposium

The ELAN Act on the future of housing, planning and digital, and a post-mortem of the calls for expressions of local interest will be at the heart of the discussions at this autumn symposium devoted to public-imitative networks (PIN), hosted by AVICCA. Guillaume Mellier, Director of Arcep’s Fibre, Infrastructures and Territories department will be taking part in a roundtable on 6 November, called: “Accelerating public FttH rollouts: how can we do better?”
Find out more (in French)

19 and 20 November in Lima, Peru
BEREC – REGULATEL Summit

Europe’s body of regulators for electronic communications and the counterpart body of South American regulators will be coming together on 19 and 20 November in Lima for a two-day conference. On the agenda: Open Internet, especially with respect to devices, 5G, IoT, data-driven regulation… an opportunity as well to discuss areas for partnership between the two bodies. BEREC Chair, Sébastien Soriano, will be talking about the issue of devices.

22 and 23 November in Paris
FRATEL plenary meeting

“What role can the regulator play in fostering innovation and efficient investment in telecoms?” is the central theme of the 2018 plenary meeting of FRATEL, the network of French-speaking telecoms regulators. This year’s meeting will be held in Paris, at the invitation of the network’s current president, the Côte d’Ivoire regulator, and the French NRA which will be the network’s president in 2019.
Find out more (in French)

26 November in Paris
Presentation of the 2018 Digital market barometer

The Digital market barometer is THE benchmark report on French people’s use of digital technology. Join us in November to find out: French people’s favourite devices, how they use the internet, how often do they use instant messaging, and more.
This statistical survey has been conducted every year since 2007 by CREDOC on behalf of Arcep, the National Economic Council and the French Digital Agency. All of the findings are available as open data.

28 November in Paris
Digiworld Summit

The 40th annual Digiworld Summit will be held this year at the Maison de la Mutualité in Paris, and no longer in Montpellier. Hosted by IDATE, this conference will be dedicated to all things “phygital”: when “digital” meets “physical” – an interconnection found in e-commerce, infrastructure, soon to be autonomous cars…
Find out more