French telco Bouygues Telecom, operator of national IP fibre-based and mobile networks with over 16 million subscribers, announced it has entered into a framework agreement through which it will begin providing a FTTH service in partnership with Altitude Infrastructure.
Under the agreement, Altitude will provide Bouygues with fibre network technology to serve both retail and business customers across France. The companies plan to launch a trial phase in September 2017, with Altitude expected to start marketing the new fibre-based services in 2018. Bouygues noted that at the end of 2016 it had 3.1 million fixed broadband customers, including 121,000 signed up to FTTH services.
France-based Altitude is an established company that works with local authorities in France to build, develop, operate and market alternate networks. The company specialises in public initiative network (PIN) projects, through which networks are deployed where no existing operator wishes to invest in building infrastructure independently. PINs are backed by public funding and may require approval from local and European regulators.
The new agreement with Bouygues covers all of the PINs implemented by Altitude, although it will initially focus on two networks in the east of France that cover around 670,000 customers. To date, Altitude has passed approximately one million premises across France with FTTH infrastructure via 19 PINs in one region covering 15 departments and four urban authorities. As of September 2016, there were 3.2 million FTTH subscribers in France for all operators.
Regarding the agreement, Richard Viel, deputy CEO of Bouygues Telecom, commented, "Bouygues Telecom has already been a customer of Altitude Infrastructure's networks for its business clients for a number of years, the new partnership… (demonstrates) its ambitions in FTTH, specifically to be present in all of France's PINs… to enable Bouygues Telecom to reach its target of 20 million premises marketed by 2022".
