Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

France reaches 94.9% fiber coverage in 2026

cartefibre.arcep.fr

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 245 posts

Re: France reaches 94.9% fiber coverage in 2026

#81

Post by AbsurdCensor »

bitmasher9 wrote: post #6

Over the last 10 years I’ve moved 5 times. Each time having a fiber connection with at least symmetrical gigabit has been a hard requirement. Looking forward I’m considering moving again for very fast networking where I can begin to stream videos in 4k 60fps to small groups from my home, as well as offering a semi-permanent home for mid sized files (500mg-50gb). The ability to download/upload large files without worr…

I'm incredibly lucky (even in the US) that I have symmetric 5gbit connection and can go up to 8gbit if I wanted (but I don't have everything wired for 10gbit so it doesn't make sense right now). I'd love to see more of that in the US, but know it's not happening anytime soon.

Re: France reaches 94.9% fiber coverage in 2026

#82

Post by manacit »

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.

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.mintmobile.com/plans/

It's not unheard of!

It's actually the high speed internet at home that is less competitive - the prices in Europe are unheard of.

Re: France reaches 94.9% fiber coverage in 2026

#83

Post by ketzu »

nixass wrote: post #66
dewey wrote: post #31

I was curious and just looked it up: Germany reached 36.8% in 2024 ( https://www.bundesnetzagentur.de/SharedDocs/Pressemitteilung... ).

Not sure if I'm surprised negatively or positively by the fact. My apartment (Germany) was built in 2017 and coax in every room was the choice planners made :_)

Because back then cable TV was a common inclusion in apartments that could be unilaterally be added to "Nebenkosten" and was therefor sold to landlords as such a nice benefit by cable providers.

Re: France reaches 94.9% fiber coverage in 2026

#84

Post by TonyTrapp »

yieldcrv wrote: post #78
bitmasher9 wrote: post #6

Over the last 10 years I’ve moved 5 times. Each time having a fiber connection with at least symmetrical gigabit has been a hard requirement. Looking forward I’m considering moving again for very fast networking where I can begin to stream videos in 4k 60fps to small groups from my home, as well as offering a semi-permanent home for mid sized files (500mg-50gb). The ability to download/upload large files without worr…

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

Can't speak for France but in Germany, you can usually check on each ISP's website what their coverage for a specific street address is. It's one of the things I always do when I look for a new home.

Re: France reaches 94.9% fiber coverage in 2026

#85

Post by robin_reala »

yieldcrv wrote: post #78
bitmasher9 wrote: post #6

Over the last 10 years I’ve moved 5 times. Each time having a fiber connection with at least symmetrical gigabit has been a hard requirement. Looking forward I’m considering moving again for very fast networking where I can begin to stream videos in 4k 60fps to small groups from my home, as well as offering a semi-permanent home for mid sized files (500mg-50gb). The ability to download/upload large files without worr…

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

Depends on which country you live in.

Re: France reaches 94.9% fiber coverage in 2026

#86

Post by AbsurdCensor »

newhotelowner wrote: post #67
halestock wrote: post #4

Meanwhile, https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/08/fcc-abolishes-gi...

Previous admin allocated a good chunk to upgrade to fiber network. Provider can claim 25% of installation cost. Frontier has been using it. I heard it's about to run out. Their workers were staying at my hotel, and putting fiber in my community. It was fascinating how frontier practically hires contractor to lay down pipes, and another contractor to pull the fiber, and another contractor to splice it and another cont…

Yeah it was wild watching how many contractors came out when Google was rolling their fiber through my neighborhood, like it was different contractor groups for every step of the way. I'm not complaining a 5gbit connection is quite nice.

Re: France reaches 94.9% fiber coverage in 2026

#87

Post by martinald »

nsbk wrote: post #16

Spain is at 96.79% (June 2025), up from 94.79% a year before. See [0] I think France and Spain are the best of the big European countries regarding coverage, but also adoption: If we look at the adoption ranking globally, Spain sits fourth at 90%, behind the UAE, China and South Korea and ahead of France at 83.6%. Very few European countries convert coverage into subscriptions that efficiently, and I think it's drive…

UK is at 85% FTTH or 91% gigabit (including DOCSIS): https://labs.thinkbroadband.com/local/. Given VM are a fair way through their XGS-PON upgrade it'll probably be 90%+ FTTH imminently.

Re: France reaches 94.9% fiber coverage in 2026

#89

Post by bryanlarsen »

Night_Thastus wrote: post #18
halestock wrote: post #4

Meanwhile, https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/08/fcc-abolishes-gi...

Reminder that US taxpayer money was handed to the ISPs by the truckload on the promise of fiber. They took that infrastructure money and ran with it.

The Biden program learned from that lesson to ensure that money was only delivered for performance rather than promises or rules-lawyering. See parent comment about Frontier actually laying fiber. But Trump had to kill it -- the GOP narrative about subsidy programs always being a waste would be disrupted if an effective program was in place.

Re: France reaches 94.9% fiber coverage in 2026

#90

Post by gigel82 »

nsbk wrote: post #16

Spain is at 96.79% (June 2025), up from 94.79% a year before. See [0] I think France and Spain are the best of the big European countries regarding coverage, but also adoption: If we look at the adoption ranking globally, Spain sits fourth at 90%, behind the UAE, China and South Korea and ahead of France at 83.6%. Very few European countries convert coverage into subscriptions that efficiently, and I think it's drive…

Damn, we pay $110 for 5Gbps in Seattle only because the 2Gbps would be $100.

Cellular plans are also a lot cheaper in Europe :(

Post reply on HN