How France Became A Leader in Offering Faster Broadband

HOW FRANCE BECAME A LEADER IN OFFERING FASTER BROADBAND
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Leila Abboud leila.abboud@wsj.com]
For years, France's telecommunications industry was a state-owned monopoly with one of the world's most backward broadband markets. But thanks to deregulation six years ago, French consumers have access to high-speed Internet service that is much faster and cheaper than in the U.S. How did France get ahead of the U.S. in broadband services? In 2000, French regulators required the country's dominant France Telecom SA to make its national network of phone lines available to other providers of phone and Internet services. France Telecom had to allow alternative providers like Iliad, Neuf-Cegetel, and Telecom Italia SpA's Alice to install their own equipment in the massive underground centers that collect thousands of phone lines. Regulators determine how much France Telecom could charge providers to rent its lines and how many days France Telecom has to fix service problems reported by competitors' customers. In the U.S., Congress and regulators have pushed phone companies since 1996 to give competitors access to parts of their networks. But the courts have struck down key parts of these efforts. In recent years, regulators have rolled back many of those requirements because they contend that competition is forming on its own between cable, Internet companies and phone-service providers, making regulation unnecessary. Some telecom experts believe that U.S. consumers would benefit from more competition if regulators here imposed stricter requirements on major carriers to make their networks available. "France's quick shift to broadband and the oncoming storm of Internet calling and digital television make it the country to watch as a model of market transformation," says James Belcher, senior analyst at market research firm, eMarketer.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB114351413029509718.html?mod=todays_us_ma...
(requires subscription)