France: All New Apt. Builds Must Be Pre-Wired With FiberSo that's what having a functional broadband policy looks like...
10:27AM Friday Apr 25 2008 by Karl Bodetags: legal · Fiber · coverage · Op/Ed · install · worldWhile we applaud like lobotomized lab chimps at the fact a handful of people can now get 50Mbps/5Mbps from Comcast for $150 in
2008, the government of France took our now-scrapped concept of local loop unbundling and line sharing and developed a
highly competitive broadband market. In that market, competition has driven some providers to offer 100Mbps/50Mbps fiber service, VoIP
and IPTV for
$40 a month.
As of this week, France is now taking the added step of requiring that all new apartment builds be
pre-installed with fiber optics. "The government's goal is to give very fast broadband a push in the back," says government spokesman Luc Chatel, who in the States would be run out of town for such clearly inflammatory and evil commentary. The law will only apply to apartment buildings larger than twenty-five units.
The proposed law should allow all network operators access to buildings, Chatel said. Operators should agree among themselves whether and how to share local neighborhood switching nodes, and the government will leave it to French telecommunications regulator Arcep to deal with competition issues that go beyond building access, Chatel said.
Back here in the States, carriers have lobbied to not only ensure we have no competition-inducing broadband policies, but have prevented the government from even
mapping broadband penetration. What's more, the most popular national broadband proposal we have (
Connected Nation) is
under fire for being little more than an incumbent lap dog tasked with putting on a good dog and pony show aimed at keeping real competition at bay.
C'est la vie?
