Marie-Amandine Stévenin, president of the consumer association, questions the fiber optic deployment plan, fearing that the government has “abandoned” its ambition to provide fiber for all in 2025.
The France Very High Speed Plan, launched 11 years ago, aimed to see fiber available for all by the end of 2025. With “remarkable efforts”, more than 80% of households are now eligible, underlines the president of UFC-Que Choisir, but she worries that after pointing out numerous connection problems last year, “the government has taken no action to remedy this situation. Worse still, he appears to be deliberately sabotaging any effort to ensure his own goals are achieved“.
Marie-Amandine Stévenin thus highlights aborted initiatives such as the announcement by the former Minister Delegate in charge of digital technology of the creation of a right to very high speed or the fact that the bill tabled to obtain compensation or terminate without fees in the event of a failed connection has still not been included on the agenda of the National Assembly. Regrets which are amplified by the fact that the recent commitments of operators to improve the quality of connections are not “binding” in his eyes and therefore cannot really reassure consumers.
The fact that an agreement with Orange has reduced the coverage objective in certain areas and that the state budget intended for fiber deployment has been reduced by more than 150 million euros adds to its concerns. “Has the government lost its ambitions to guarantee every French person access to fiber by the end of 2025? I sincerely hope not, and I call on him to take the necessary measures to ensure that consumers can fully benefit from this technology, starting with the creation of an enforceable right to quality very high bandwidth” she concludes.
Source: Que-Choisir
This article was reprinted on the Univers FreeBox website
