France has a new public company: Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN), the production and installation of submarine telecoms cables subsidiary of the Finnish equipment manufacturer Nokia. Antoine Armand, the Minister of the Economy, will sign the acquisition contract for 80% of the capital on November 5, late in the morning, in Calais (Pas-de-Calais), in the company's historic factory. Negotiations between the State and Nokia were revealed on June 27.
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The amount of the transaction amounts to approximately 100 million euros, to which must be added the assumption of 250 million euros of ASN debt. Nokia will retain 20% of the capital, but the State Participation Agency (APE) may repurchase this share in the future, under undisclosed conditions. This acquisition is not subject to the vote on the finance bill for 2025. The sum will be drawn from the special allocation account for State financial contributions.
The Finnish group, which inherited ASN in 2015 when it acquired Alcatel-Lucent, had been thinking about the future of this company for two years. The State did not want to see it pass into the wrong hands. “ASN is a strategic company”insists the Ministry of Industry.
France, a nerve center of the global network
99% of global Internet traffic passes through fiber optic cables deployed at the bottom of the seas and oceans, historically by telecom operators and, in recent years, by digital giants like Meta (Facebook) or Google. More than 480 are currently in service. However, with its maritime facade, France is a nerve center of the global network. Four transatlantic cables linking Europe to the United States are arriving on the coasts of France. In Marseille, 18 lines arrive from Asia and Africa or leave for these destinations.
The only European manufacturer of submarine fiber optic telecom cables, ASN holds around a third of this global market, alongside the American SubCom and the Japanese NEC. He manufactured all of the cables connecting Africa, including 2Africa, the latest pharaonic project undertaken in 2020 by a consortium led by Meta. 45,000 kilometers long, this network, in partial service since June, interconnects Europe, Asia and the African continent, arriving on the coasts of thirty-three countries.
In addition to its Calais factory, the former Nokia subsidiary has a fleet of seven vessels, two of which are intended for cable repairs or maintenance. In this area, France can also count on the seven boats of Orange Marine, the specialized subsidiary of the telecoms operator.
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