France Telecom-Orange has published its third party-operator access offer for its FTTH network outside very-dense areas, and has signed an agreement with triple-play operator Free concerning fibre deployment in these areas, due to begin in 2011 and 2012. Free has subscribed to the offer in agglomerations (towns and surrounding areas) where deployment will begin this year and next, to connect 5 million homes in around 1,300 municipalities. Free states that its agreement enables the rapid launch of FTTH rollout outside areas of high population density, at a reasonable cost and with significant participation from the outset from the co-financing operators, itself and France Telecom-Orange. The access offer and this first agreement fall within the carrier's ongoing nationwide high-speed broadband roll-out programme announced in February. France Telecom said it will spend EUR 2 billion by 2015 to bring fibre networks to 3,600 French municipalities (communes), covering 10 million households by 2015 and 15 million households by 2020 (corresponding to 17 million homes), totalling nearly 60 percent of French households. Outside the areas defined as "very dense" by the regulator, this programme will cover 3,440 municipalities totalling 11 million homes by 2020 and will include all "medium-sized" towns. In parallel, France Telecom-Orange is continuing active discussions with other interested operators. The deployment of these networks will take place in close cooperation with the relevant local authorities.
