The French department of Saône-et-Loire, in the Burgundy-Franche-Comté region, has extended the deployment of very high-speed broadband internet under an EU-funded project. The work involved the connection to fibre-optic networks of more than 202 000 homes and companies. By 2023, the aim is to make very high-speed broadband available everywhere in the department. This should enhance the attractiveness of Saône-et-Loire by helping to revitalise the local economy, encourage industrial innovation and maintain and develop essential services.
- 10 July 2022
“The deployment of the first connectible sockets in Gueugnon heralds a significant change for the modernisation and attractiveness of our area. With fibre optics, our businesses, teachers, students and residents will have a tool with a variety of uses, allowing for the development of a great number of activities.”
Saône-et-Loire has adopted a digital development strategy aimed at expanding its very high-speed broadband network over two stages. The strategy targets areas where, for commercial reasons, private operators have not set up high-speed networks.
The infrastructure established under the project is of the fibre to the home (FTTH) type, with fibre-optic cables connected to individual dwellings and local companies. Sockets were installed through which broadband is provided to residents directly from the cables.
Connecting rural areas
Efforts to deploy fibre-optic networks in Saône-et-Loire have been undertaken by the department in collaboration with national and regional public authorities and private companies. The work has entailed the division of the department into zones.
The most rural areas, which are the main focus of the project, are in the zone covered by the public initiative network (RIP). Local authorities establish RIPs to ensure the availability of fibre-optic networks in areas where private operators will not build them because it is not profitable. The authorities then entrust the operation of the network to private companies via public contracts.
In Saône-et-Loire, 102 000 households and companies should be connected to the RIP71 network – 71 being the number of the department – by 2023. The completed network will encompass 25 fibre exchanges, 252 roadside cabinets and 30 000 km of cabling containing over 283 000 km of optical fibre. Via the cables, broadband is supplied from the exchanges to the cabinets and from the cabinets to homes.
For the second zone, where the goal is to deliver very high-speed broadband to 100 000 households and enterprises in 250 municipalities by 2023, a call for expressions of local commitment was launched. This involved the publication by the department of a call for tenders related to FTTH network development. A contract resulting from the call was signed with a private operator in September 2019.
The third zone covers the five largest urban areas in Saône-et-Loire – Chalon-sur-Saône, Mâcon, Le Creusot, Montceau-les-Mines and Autun. Its network was built and is operated by private companies and comprises connections to 135 000 households and companies.
Total investment and EU funding
Total investment for the project “Work on the deployment of public networks of the type FTTH (fibre optics)” is EUR 165 000 000, with the EU’s European Regional Development Fund contributing EUR 10 990 885 through the “Bourgogne” Operational Programme for the 2014-2020 programming period. The investment falls under the priority “Strengthening very high-speed network deployment and access to ICTs for SMEs, health services and education”.