Broadband in France

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Steven M. Bellovin" <smb () cs columbia edu>
Date: March 28, 2006 11:04:53 AM EST
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Broadband in France

For IP, if you wish.

There's a fascinating article in today's Wall Street Journal about
broadband in France.  (If you subscribe, it's at
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB114351413029509718.html? 
mod=technology_featured_stories_hs
The article starts: "For years, France's telecommunications industry  
was a
state-owned monopoly with one of the world's most backward broadband
markets. But thanks to deregulation six years ago, French consumers have
access to high-speed Internet service that is much faster and cheaper  
than
in the U.S."

From Iliad, for 30 Euros, you can get 81 TV channels, ulimited
calling to 15 countries, and high-speed Internet.  Download speeds
are up to 24M bps, compared with the U.S. average of about 1.5M
bps.  TV is transmitted over IP, as is voice.  (The article estimates
that 40% of the French fixed-line telephony market will be VoIP by
the end of the year.)

How did they do it?  Part of it was their own hardware design; they  
build
their own DSLAMs and "Freeboxes"; the latter is based on Linux.  But the
big difference seems to be regulatory:

        In 2000, French regulators required the country's dominant
        France Telecom SA to make its national network of phone
        lines available to other providers of phone and Internet
        services.

        France Telecom had to allow alternative providers like
        Iliad, Neuf-Cegetel, and Telecom Italia SpA's Alice to
        install their own equipment in the massive underground
        centers that collect thousands of phone lines.  Regulators
        determine how much France Telecom could charge providers
        to rent its lines and how many days France Telecom has to
        fix service problems reported by competitors' customers.



        --Steven M. Bellovin, http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~smb


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