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France reaches 94.9% fiber coverage in 2026

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Re: France reaches 94.9% fiber coverage in 2026

#111

Post by cassepipe »

hocuspocus wrote: post #100
cassepipe wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The "sad" thing is that it is generally not advantageous for people to have both a phone data plan and an internet box plan if the latter is not shared so a lot of people have a fiber connection on their wall but still use their phone as hotspot since bigger data plan It's not the end of the world but it feels like a wasted effort. I don't know what the solution is.

It's not really a big issue. Connecting the last meters of fiber is cheap, either done by default in new constructions, or on demand for older houses. ISP's hardware to run PON is cheap. Once street level fiber deployment is done, whether market penetration follows or not isn't a huge deal.

I am clearly not talking about the last meter issue, I am talking about when the fiber is already in the home and sits unused. That seems like a pity (yes not a huge deal)

But maybe I misunderstood your point ?

Re: France reaches 94.9% fiber coverage in 2026

#112

Post by epistasis »

manacit wrote: post #82
epistasis wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> a 5G SIM with unlimited data (something you can get for 10/15 euros a month) is cheaper than a fiber connection (that starts from 25 euros). These sorts of prices are unheard of in the US, so incredibly low. Something has gone deeply wrong with US telecommunications.

You can use any one of many MVNOs to get unlimited data for around that price, say less adjusted for household income, in the USA. A favorite of mine is https://www.usmobile.com/ which is $25/mo list price (and less if you pay for the year, or if they're having a sale) which will give you Unlimited Data and 1GB a month of global roaming data If you pay $45 you can get unlimited data from Mint for $15/mo: https://www.…

I do use US Mobile, and I recently switched to it because T-mobile made it so difficult to pay a bill, it was nearly impossible to get them to accept money.

And a ~decade ago in SF I did have Sonic 1Gbps symmetric fiber for something like $40 or $50/month, but that too is twice the cost of Italy.

Re: France reaches 94.9% fiber coverage in 2026

#113

Post by hocuspocus »

cassepipe wrote: post #111
hocuspocus wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not really a big issue. Connecting the last meters of fiber is cheap, either done by default in new constructions, or on demand for older houses. ISP's hardware to run PON is cheap. Once street level fiber deployment is done, whether market penetration follows or not isn't a huge deal.

I am clearly not talking about the last meter issue, I am talking about when the fiber is already in the home and sits unused. That seems like a pity (yes not a huge deal) But maybe I misunderstood your point ?

Where do you think is the last meter if not in the home?

Re: France reaches 94.9% fiber coverage in 2026

#114

Post by dolmen »

hocuspocus wrote: post #100
cassepipe wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The "sad" thing is that it is generally not advantageous for people to have both a phone data plan and an internet box plan if the latter is not shared so a lot of people have a fiber connection on their wall but still use their phone as hotspot since bigger data plan It's not the end of the world but it feels like a wasted effort. I don't know what the solution is.

It's not really a big issue. Connecting the last meters of fiber is cheap, either done by default in new constructions, or on demand for older houses. ISP's hardware to run PON is cheap. Once street level fiber deployment is done, whether market penetration follows or not isn't a huge deal.

> Connecting the last meters of fiber is cheap

Check the France map. This is cheap in densely populated areas, like cities. It isn't in mountainous areas with just small groups of houses like in the middle of the country.

Re: France reaches 94.9% fiber coverage in 2026

#115

Post by yieldcrv »

rconti wrote: post #99
yieldcrv wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you go about learning this about a building or neighborhood while planning a move? Its something I usually find out later

In the US, there are various websites for checking service availability based on zip code. You can fairly easily find local ISPs in a region and then use their own service checker to see if service is available at a specific address -- in other words, the same method you'd use if you already lived there and wanted to order service.

I’m curious what parent personally did, I can think of several solutions and am curious of their personal journey with this

Prioritizing that while potentially facing a deadline of moving out of an irreconcilable lease, living situation, job move, immigration move, or just for a change of pace

Re: France reaches 94.9% fiber coverage in 2026

#117

Post by xboxnolifes »

gramie wrote: post #10

Quebec has high-speed internet available to all residents. Either fibre to the home, or subsidized StarLink. Canada as a whole is expected to have 90% high speed internet by the end of 2026, and 100% by 2030.

How high speed is "high-speed" internet in this context? In the US, high-speed internet can mean anything better than DSL.

Re: France reaches 94.9% fiber coverage in 2026

#118

Post by ricardobayes »

epistasis wrote: post #71
alerighi wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Italy we are at 78% of addresses covered. That doesn't mean automatically that one gets fiber. First at all, if someone doesn't need to download heavy stuff and has a good coverage a 5G SIM with unlimited data (something you can get for 10/15 euros a month) is cheaper than a fiber connection (that starts from 25 euros). Second a lot of people has still FTTC even if it has FTTH, mostly because FTTC offers a speed t…

> a 5G SIM with unlimited data (something you can get for 10/15 euros a month) is cheaper than a fiber connection (that starts from 25 euros). These sorts of prices are unheard of in the US, so incredibly low. Something has gone deeply wrong with US telecommunications.

At the same time a software developer earns 40-50k, perhaps a little higher in Milan or Rome.

Re: France reaches 94.9% fiber coverage in 2026

#119

Post by chermi »

juliie wrote: post #108
chermi wrote: post #95

Are there downsides? I'm guessing it came from state initiative, does that mean more state control of the internet, including snooping and censorship? I don't know the best solution to fast and widely available internet, but I'm pretty sure the US isnt doing it. Starlink is the best for my mom's house 5 miles from a 100k+ "metro" center, which seems kind of absurd. Who's done it best? What's wrong with the US? Just s…

It was managed by the state, but built and owned by private companies. The installer would get 1 year of exclusivity, then any other ISP gets to use the fiber. Cost is pretty low, I get 7gb for 50€ per month, and there are cheaper plans for just 1gb The issue is that the whole infrastructure is run at super low cost. I sometimes see a neighborhood's fiber distribution cabinet just open to the elements. Happens maybe…

50 a month for 7gb?! Jeebus I'm jealous.

Re: France reaches 94.9% fiber coverage in 2026

#120

Post by oliwarner »

It's pretty insane. Our family has a holiday home in a fairly mountainous region in central-southern France. Dwindling population, no major tourist activity, wine production.

We'd long suffered the worst imaginable 56k but in 2018, the local ISP just ran fibre out to everyone. I think the current service is cheaper than the 56k was too, and far cheaper than any of the 4/5G options back then.

What I mean (vis á vis insane) is that they'll have routed about a kilometre of fibre over several dozen poles, up a mountain just for our house. And the same for all the equally rural neighbours miles around. The return on this is deeply social. Our area is never going to generate the return on internet alone, and that's nice.

France does a lot of getting-shit-done-by-subsidy. The roads around Paris need some attention but they nailed internet hard. I wonder how far they blew their original €20bn budget. The Wikipedia page hasn't had a decent financial update since 2017. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plan_France_Tr%C3%A8s_Haut_D%C...

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