Val de Loire Fibre, a subsidiary of TDF, has reached the symbolic milestone of 100,000 subscribers to the fiber-optic network deployed in the public-initiative zone of the Indre-et-Loire and Loir-et-Cher départements. This brings to almost a third the number of homes and businesses in this area that have taken out a fiber subscription.
The Val de Loire Fibre teams made the event official with a visit to the 100,000th subscriber, a couple from Villefranche-sur-Cher who took out their subscription in April: "Before, our Internet connection wasn't stable. We couldn't telework or do teleconsultations, and we couldn't use several connected objects at the same time. We wanted to switch to fiber, but had some concerns. Two weeks ago, we attended a public meeting organized by Val de Loire Fibre. This event enabled us to get answers to all our questions about the connection. We decided to switch to fiber and are very satisfied. The connection went very smoothly, in collaboration with the technicians who helped us define the best cable routing," say Mrs. and Mr. Coutance.
Jean Philippe Martignac, Managing Director of Val de Loire Fibre, comments: "This milestone marks a significant step forward for the region's digital development. Val de Loire Fibre is living up to its commitments, and is committed to supporting residents in their transition to fiber optics. On a daily basis, we are working with all the Internet service providers who place their trust in us to accelerate the transition to fiber optics, particularly with a view to the shutdown of the copper network by 2030."
In both départements, the rollout of fiber optics is well underway. In total, almost 260,000 outlets (80% of the final target) are "marketable" and therefore ready to be connected, by one of the ten ISPs offering residential services on the network, or one of the thirty-nine operators dedicated to business services. Deployment will continue throughout the year to meet the target of 320,000 eligible outlets by the end of 2023.
Every week, public meetings are held in newly-eligible communes to inform residents of the arrival of fiber, and to answer any questions they may have about connection. These meetings are a resounding success, sometimes welcoming over a hundred residents.
In terms of connections, demand from eligible individuals and businesses is strong. Val de Loire Fibre counts an average of 1,300 connections per week. Fiber optics provide a high-performance, multi-purpose Internet connection for telecommuting, online gaming, video-on-demand and more. For businesses, fiber opens up new economic opportunities.
In early 2018, the Syndicat Mixte Ouvert Val de Loire Numérique launched an ambitious project to deploy fiber optics in the two departments of Indre-et-Loire and Loir-et-Cher, in order to contribute to their economic development and attractiveness.
Deployed and operated by Val de Loire Fibre, a subsidiary of TDF, under a public service delegation agreement, this network will serve all homes and structures in the department's public initiative zone.
