2023-10-06 16:51:00
Laure de La Raudière is very proud of it. The president of Arcep, the telecoms regulator, welcomed this Friday the conclusions of a report from the Court of Auditors, published that same day, on its action. “The report of the Court of Auditors honors the work of Arcep, Arcépiennes and Arcépiens, and also the action of my predecessor Sébastien Soriano”, she wrote on X (formerly Twitter). The Sages of rue Cambon appear, it is true, to be satisfied with the work of the authority over the period 2015-2021, mainly under the mandate of Sébastien Soriano.
“The results observed in regulated sectors are generally positive, as evidenced by the significant progress in connectivity in France, the drop in subscription prices and the increase in operator investments”, they note. Two downsides, however: “The situation nevertheless remains contrasted depending on the public and the territories, in particular with regard to business connectivity and access to optical fiber. »
The success of fiber deployment
Generally speaking, France’s gap in fixed Internet connectivity is being filled thanks to the France Very High Speed (PTHD) plan, which aims to bring fiber to all French people by 2025. This major project, the result of Cooperation between Arcep, the government and of course the operators has resulted in massive investments in the networks. This effort has borne fruit: 83% of French people now have access to fiber. At the same time, prices have remained among the lowest in Europe, even if they have risen slightly in recent months. Despite quality issues, and the fact that deployments have stopped in some territories, PTHD appears to be delivering on its promises. And it is, without a doubt, partly thanks to Arcep.
However, the authority has been struggling for years to open up the telecoms market for professionals to competition. According to the report from the Court of Auditors, Orange still remains ultra-dominant, with a market share greater than 50% according to the report. « This results in high barriers to changing operator, more rigid offers and significant costs (96 euros on average per month for small businesses, 335 euros on average for medium and large businesses)”insists the Court of Auditors.
“The sanction lever is little used”
The Sages also welcome the work of the “telecoms policeman” in mobile. They recall that it was Arcep which was the initiator of the mobile “New Deal” in 2018. At the time, the State gave up significant budgetary revenue in exchange for an acceleration of 3G coverage. and 4G in white areas, where mobile is not available. The situation has generally improved, even if there are still uncovered areas today. Finally, « monitoring and controlling operators’ commitments [par l’Arcep, Ndlr] in terms of deployment constitutes a strong incentive to respect them”greets the Court of Auditors.
That said, the Sages judge that the telecoms policeman makes very little use of his whistle. « The sanction lever, considered as a last resort for regulation, is little used: seven sanctions were imposed during the period under review, between 2015 and 2022 », they detail. This point is regularly the subject of criticism. Communities, particularly those which are still not covered by optical fiber, deplore that the institution chaired by Laure de La Raudière too often – and for too long – seeks compromises with operators, instead of giving them plums.
The relevance of “regulation by speech”
The Court of Auditors recommends that Arcep make greater use of different “preventive instruments” ahead of sanction procedures. She evokes the “regulation by speech”, or formal notices ahead of set deadlines regarding, for example, plans to rehabilitate the most degraded fiber networks. This “regulation by speech” was Sébastien Soriano’s trademark. The former president did not hesitate to attack operators with whom he was not satisfied during numerous press interviews. Stéphane Richard, the former CEO of Orange, still remembers it! Laure de La Raudière, for her part, is much more measured during her rare outings in the media. Which is not necessarily to the taste of the Sages. They believe that“a strong media presence” constitutes “a useful regulatory vector, particularly in a context of increasing litigation procedures”.
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