Arcep has just updated its fiber optic, 4G and 5G coverage map in France on its My Internet Connection website. An essential service to find out the eligibility and average flow at a given address!
While the deployment of fiber is a crucial issue for France and operators are gradually abandoning the copper network – which is set to disappear – coverage in France remains quite uneven, which creates a digital divide. At the end of November 2022, the Telecoms Regulatory Authority (Arcep) ordered Orange, Free, SFR and Bouygues to improve the deployment of optical fiber, in particular by further controlling their technicians and repairing the most dilapidated infrastructures, following complaints from many users – when it is not simply a question of deliberate damage, as is the case in many cities… Many are still waiting for very high speed to finally arrive in their region.
And it is precisely to allow the general public to have a little visibility regarding the arrival of fiber in the areas currently being deployed and to know the offers of installed operators that, for several years, the telecoms policeman offers a tool called “My Internet connection”, which brings together “interactive” maps, regularly updated with the latest official data – with a small time lag which causes some differences with the real situation. Arcep has just updated the maps with data from the second quarter of 2023 – the eligibility data is updated as of June 30 to be exact –, in particular for the debits at the address and the rear areas of the point of contact. pooling – the next update will take place on December 7, 2023. And we can immediately see that certain regions, such as Brittany or the Rhône-Alpes, are lagging behind Ile-de-France and the Grand-Est, although things tend to improve.
Optical fiber and 5G: find out if you are eligible and at what speed
Arcep also provides users with an interactive map covering the entire territory and listing all the information accessible in open data on the site. maconnexioninternet.arcep.fr. It details the average speed of French households by zone – including overseas – and provides information on the operators and Internet access technologies available at a specific address. The color changes depending on the maximum speed you can expect – for optical fiber, the speed is automatically at the maximum. As for the site map cartefibre.arcep.frit indicates the progress of the fiber deployment – whether the deployment is scheduled, whether the fiber is connectable on demand, in the process of being deployed or already deployed.
“My Internet Connection” works a bit like a search engine. Simply indicate an address to see all the available offers displayed in a window, classified by operators and technologies (xDSL, fiber, satellite), with upstream and downstream speeds (reception and transmission). We can thus verify that, for a given location, fiber is offered by Free when only ADSL is possible with Bouygues, for example. Remember that, as Arcep is not a commercial organization, no price is indicated: the card does not present a formula, but only ISPs and technologies. But it remains very practical for knowing the possibilities in the event of a move, or even for choosing accommodation based on the operators and technologies available. Please note, however, that the speeds are theoretical, so there may be a difference between what is announced and reality.
Note that Arcep also provides a map allowing you to visualize the coverage rate and quality of 4G and 5G networks for all operators: it is accessible from the site monreseaumobile.arcep.fr – since last December, we can consult the 5G sites in Reunion. With the same time lag which can be misleading in certain cases, when the new establishments are not yet taken into account.
