Autorité de régulation de télécommunications (ART), France's official telecom regulatory authority, released its 2002 Review, noting over the past year Internet access prices in the country have become among the lowest in Europe, stimulating strong market demand.
- High-speed subscribers now represent about 16% of active Internet subscribers in France
For historic and regulatory reasons, cable networks do not cover all of France in a homogenous manner. Cable modem service is currently available to 6 million homes in 650 municipalities. There were over 200,000 cable modem subscribers at the end of 2002, but the growth rate was minimal compared to ADSL.
Five ISPs currently represent 80% of active subscribers and Internet dial-up traffic (AOL, Club Internet/T-Online, Free, Tiscali and Wanadoo).
The current market price for consumer ADSL service in France is around EUR 45 (including tax) for an unlimited flat rate package with a peak downloading speed of 512 kbps. ART expects this price to decline. The consumer ADSL market is currently dominated by Wanadoo with a very significant majority market share. However, ADSL services with downstream speeds of 128 kbps are being offered by most ISPs at prices of around EUR 30 per month including tax. Consumer ADSL at 512 kbps based on partial unbundling is starting to appear at EUR 30 per month.
The report also discusses the ADSL unbundling options available to competitive ISPs and carriers for access to France Telecom facilities, and the resulting price declines following ART's ruling on these issues in July 2002.
