Rival companies Orange, Bouygues Télécom and SFR are already partners in the scheme, which aims to provide fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) to 1.4 million households, companies and public sites in the region of north-west France, which has a population of 3.3 million.
Bretagne Très Haut Débit (THD) — or Brittany Very High Speed — is an Orange Wholesale subsidiary that manages and markets the scheme.
Bénédicte Javelot (pictured), executive director of Orange Wholesale France, said: “The arrival of Free marks a new stage in this success and reinforces the approach taken by the region and the Breton communities to extend very high speed coverage in Brittany.”
Mégalis Bretagne, a public-sector organisation, is building the regional public fibre network. Loïg Chesnais-Girard, president of the regional council of Brittany and of Mégalis Bretagne, said: “The arrival of Free complements the offer already available to the Breton public. This is good news for Bretons who are waiting for the arrival of very high speed. This arrival also reflects the attractiveness of the network with the presence now of the four major consumer internet service providers.”
Maxime Lombardini, vice-chairman of Iliad, Free’s parent company, signed the memorandum of understanding formalising the arrival of Free, as a commercial operator on the Breton public fibre network.
He said: “This agreement is in line with our strategy of deployment to extend our fibre network, which today covers more than 18 million outlets throughout France.”
Free will charge uniform prices in both rural and densely populated areas, he said.
Bretagne THD project covers 60% of the population of Brittany and 90% of the Breton territory. Free is already signing up customers, and commercial service will start in 2021.
Work has started to ensure the presence of Free on each of the optical connection nodes in the region. The company already serves densely populated areas of Brittany, including the city of Rennes.
Javelot added: “Orange, through its subsidiary THD Bretagne, has been successfully marketing the Breton public initiative network in optical fibre to internet service providers since mid-October 2016. After the arrival of Orange, Bouygues Télécom and SFR, that of Free marks a new stage in this success.”
