Arcep has just updated its fiber optic, 4G and 5G coverage maps in France. A handy tool to find out eligibility and average throughput at a given address. Even if the information is sometimes a little dated…
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. The Telecoms Regulatory Authority (Arcep) also ordered Orange, Free, SFR and Bouygues at the end of November to improve the deployment of optical fiber, in particular by controlling their technicians more and by repairing the most dilapidated infrastructures, following to the complaints of many users – when it is not quite simply a question of voluntary degradation, 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 as to the arrival of fiber in the areas being deployed and to know the offers of the installed operators that, for a few years, the telecoms policeman offers a map on its site fibercard.arcep.fr. An “interactive” map, regularly updated with the latest official data – subject to a small time lag which induces some differences with the real situation. In mid-December 2022, Arcep posted its map online with data for the third quarter of 2022 – the next update will take place on March 9, 2023. Other maps are also affected. And we can see right away that certain regions, such as Brittany or the Rhône-Alpes, are very behind compared to Ile-de-France and the Grand-Est…
5G optical fiber: find out if you are eligible and at what speed
Arcep has provided users with an interactive map covering the entire territory and listing all the information accessible in open data on the site. myinternetconnection.arcep.fr. It details the average speed of French households by zone – including overseas territories – and provides information on the operators and Internet access technologies available at a specific address. The color changes according to the maximum speed that can be claimed – for fiber optics, the speed is automatically at the maximum.
All you have to do is enter an address to see all the available offers displayed in a window, classified by operator and by technology (xDSL, fibre, satellite), with uplink and downlink speeds (reception and transmission). We can thus verify that, for a given place, fiber is offered at 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 to find out about the possibilities in the event of a move, or even to choose accommodation according to the operators and technologies available. Note, however, that the speeds are theoretical, so there may be a difference between what is announced and reality.
Arcep has also updated its map showing the coverage rate and quality of 4G and 5G networks for all operators: it is accessible from the monreseaumobile.arcep.fr – it is now possible to consult the 5G sites in Reunion. The departmental and regional infographics also had the right to the latest data. With the same time lag that can be misleading in some cases, when new locations are not yet taken into account.
