The historic copper network of the operator Orange must gradually close by 2030, with a first stage starting next January.
The many French people affected must connect to fiber to continue using telephone and internet services.
We tell you everything you need to know so as not to be surprised.
Goodbye to the emblematic T-shaped socket. The major “France very high speed” plan, initiated in 2013, promised a high-speed internet connection to all French people in 2022, before a deployment, across the entire territory, of optical fiber by 2025. Faced with the growth in internet traffic, boosted by the explosion of online videos, its deployment has become essential.
The end of an era. The copper network, deployed in the 1970s for our landline telephones and through which ADSL passed until recently, is aging. It no longer provides sufficient internet connection quality to support everyday uses. The operator Orange, owner of the infrastructure, has therefore decided to gradually close its historic network, except that not everyone is necessarily ready to change their habits.
I panicked a little. I said to myself, it’s not possible. I won’t have a TV anymore, anything?”
Annie, a retiree from Côtes-d’Armor
A month ago, in Côtes-d’Armor, Annie received an SMS from her operator telling her that her line was going to be canceled. “I panicked a little. I said to myself, it’s not possible. I won’t have a TV anymore, anything?“, relates the retiree, in the TF1 news video to see at the top of this article. She refused to take out a fiber subscription with her operator. “I haven’t had any news. There is always internet, my TV“, says this Breton woman, relieved.
One day or another, Annie will have to come to terms with it, like everyone else. The technical closure of the copper network involves the cessation of services based on ADSL. According to Orange’s plan, by 2030, the famous T-shaped socket will have completely disappeared. The key is an ultra-fast internet connection and “a network that will consume almost four times less energy“, assures Damien de Kerhor, Brittany regional delegate of Orange, in our report.
162 municipalities concerned as of January 31, 2025
From January 31, 2025, the copper network will be deactivated in 209,000 premises in 162 municipalities. Then, as of January 31, 2026, this will be the case for 970,000 premises in 829 municipalities, according to the plan established by Orange. In Glomel, still in Côtes-d’Armor, fifty households have still not subscribed to a fiber offer. In a little over two months, the operator Orange will cut their landline and internet lines.
As the fateful date approaches, the first deputy mayor, Éléonore Kogler, tries to alert them. “The operators approached people by telephone. But people are very suspicious, and thinking that it is abusive canvassing, they did not necessarily respond to the request“, underlines the elected official in front of our camera. According to the latest figures from Arcep, the telecoms watchdog, as of June 30, 2023, 38.3 million premises were eligible for an optical fiber offer, or 83% of the territory .
When is the outage expected in your city?
Last year, the Ministry of the Economy put a website online (new window) to support users in the transition from copper to fiber and inform them about the steps to take in the context of the cessation of fixed telephone and ADSL internet services. To find out when the cooking network is scheduled to be cut off, simply enter the name of your municipality.
Is your home eligible for optical fiber?
The “My internet connection” portal (new window)” of Arcep allows you to know which areas are already covered and to precisely follow the progress of its deployment in the territory thanks to interactive maps. To do this, select the tab “Debits at the address ” (top right), then enter the name of the municipality and the address of the accommodation. You will thus be able to find out the name of the operators who offer a fiber optic offer, as well as the speeds allowed by each of them.
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If your home is designated as eligible, this means that it can be connected to the fiber optic network of at least one operator. Once you have subscribed to an offer, the internet service provider of your choice will send the new equipment to be connected to the optical socket. If the home has never been connected, the operator will send a technician to your home.
