France closes 2025 with 2.4 mln SIMs in 2G devices
FRANCE 09:49

France closes 2025 with 2.4 mln SIMs in 2G devices

The number of SIM cards in 2G devices decreased to 2.4 million in Q4 2025, down from 2.8 million in Q2 2025, according to telecom regulator Arcep. This represented 1.8 percent of all active SIMs across devices dedicated to voice/text/data services, and 3.9 percent of the M2M installed base. Over the same period, SIMs in 2G-only and 3G/2G-only devices fell from 5.9 to 5.2 million.

TDF taps Harmonic products to upgrade DTT multiplex capacity
FRANCE 1 APR

TDF taps Harmonic products to upgrade DTT multiplex capacity

French digital terrestrial TV multiplex operator TDF has implemented upgraded infrastructure from Harmonic to boost transmission capacity for HD broadcasts. Following the upgrades, TDF's multiplex can distribute six HD channels, up from five channels previously. The HD channels set for distribution are BFM TV, CNews, CStar, Novo19, T18 and Gulli.

Arcep consults on draft decision to grant Amazon Leo expanded licence
FRANCE 1 APR

Arcep consults on draft decision to grant Amazon Leo expanded licence

French telecom authority Arcep has published a draft decision for public consultation, in which the regulator would grant a number of additional rights to Amazon Kuiper Services Europe by amending the ten-year licence secured by this Amazon subsidiary in mid-2025. Among the main changes, the draft decision would enlarge the authorised geographical footprint to include the French overseas territories for which Arcep is responsible (French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Mayotte, Martinique, St. Pierre and Miquelon, St.

SFR taps Bitdefender to launch Smart SOC service for French SMEs
FRANCE 1 APR

SFR taps Bitdefender to launch Smart SOC service for French SMEs

French operator SFR announced that its B2B arm, SFR Business, is presenting a new cybersecurity offering for SMEs at the InCyber Forum currently taking place in Lille. This follows a collaboration with SFR's long-term partner Bitdefender, which contributes to this latest launch with its Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR) and Mobile Security product lines. Dubbed Smart SOC, the service is fully managed by SFR Business' team of over 400 cybersecurity agents nationwide, relying on SOC (Security Operations Cen

Atos completes sale of advanced computing activities
FRANCE 1 APR

Atos completes sale of advanced computing activities

ICT group Atos has confirmed the completion of the sale of its advanced computing activities, following the deal agreed with the French government last year. Since the initial offer, the enterprise value of the assets has been revised from up to EUR 410 million to up to EUR 404 million. This reflects the decision to exclude zData, a big data consulting specialist, from the scope of the transaction.

Iliad's Free launches EUR 30/month Max mobile plan with unlimited data in Europe and beyond
FRANCE 31 MRT

Iliad's Free launches EUR 30/month Max mobile plan with unlimited data in Europe and beyond

French operator Free, part of the Iliad group, has added a new top-tier plan to its mobile portfolio, offering unlimited 4G/5G data in over 135 international destinations. Dubbed Max, the plan costs EUR 29.99/month for B2C customers with no contract commitment, before any discount that applies for Free's fixed broadband subscribers. A 'Pro' version is also available for the same price (excluding VAT), on a no-contract basis. Commenting on the launch, Free's founder Xavier Niel said that this new offer was u

Canal Plus hails court win against Google, Cloudflare and Cisco over piracy
FRANCE 31 MRT

Canal Plus hails court win against Google, Cloudflare and Cisco over piracy

French pay-TV operator Canal Plus said that it secured a new landmark legal win in its fight against piracy. In a recent decision, an appeal court in Paris upheld a previous ruling in favour of blocking illegal streaming and IPTV services via alternative DNS providers including Google, Cloudflare and Cisco. The operator had argued that these providers should be considered technical intermediaries used to circumvent delisting processes put in place to prevent access to pirated content. This legal case starte

Bouygues Telecom Business integrates Google Pixel smartphones into 5G hybrid and private network portfolio
FRANCE 30 MRT

Bouygues Telecom Business integrates Google Pixel smartphones into 5G hybrid and private network portfolio

French operator Bouygues Telecom announced that its B2B arm has partnered with Google Pixel to offer clients a range of smartphones that are fully compatible with 5G connectivity delivered via hybrid and private network deployments. The university hospital centre in Bordeaux (CHU de Bordeaux) is the first pilot customer for this collaboration, as part of the 5mart Ho5pital project announced earlier this year. A small number of Google Pixel smartphones are being tested on the 5G hybrid private network that B

Mistral AI raises USD 830 mln to invest in new data centre near Paris
FRANCE 30 MRT

Mistral AI raises USD 830 mln to invest in new data centre near Paris

France-based generative AI company Mistral AI said that it completed its first debt financing, raising USD 830 million from a consortium of banks to strengthen its data centre capabilities. The investment will focus on a campus located in Bruyeres-le-Chatel (Ile-de-France region), financing infrastructure built on Nvidia's Grace Blackwell architecture. The project, which includes 13,800 Nvidia GB300 GPUs, will deliver 44 MW of powered capacity and will contribute to Mistral AI's ambition to build 200 MW of

French public sector spends 62% more on public cloud services in 2025, with OVHcloud top provider
FRANCE 30 MRT

French public sector spends 62% more on public cloud services in 2025, with OVHcloud top provider

France's public sector entities ordered EUR 84 million worth of public cloud services in 2025, up 62 percent year-on-year, according to a new report published by the country's Interministerial Digital Directorate (DINUM). This spending mainly benefitted European-based cloud providers, which accounted for a combined 70 percent share. OVHcloud led the 2025 ranking with contracts amounting to EUR 30.2 million. Within this list, the top five group also included AWS (EUR 11.1 million), Outscale (EUR 9.8 million)

Orange subsidiary W-HA enables m-payments with 5G slicing at local carnival
FRANCE 30 MRT

Orange subsidiary W-HA enables m-payments with 5G slicing at local carnival

Digital payment specialist W-HA, fully owned by Orange, has teamed up with the Orange 5G Lab based in Rennes to facilitate m-payments during Granville's carnival in mid-February, a five-day event that attracted over 150,000 visitors. During this successful trial, Orange demonstrated how its 5G+ service can provide dedicated connectivity using network slicing for 'Tap to Pay Contodeo', W-HA's payment offering that turns smartphones into payment terminals.

Ookla Speedtest data added to Arcep mobile performance mapping tool
FRANCE 27 MRT

Ookla Speedtest data added to Arcep mobile performance mapping tool

Ookla has launched a new 12-month crowdsourced data partnership with French telecoms regulator Arcep. This has resulted in Arcep's mobile performance and coverage mapping tool (monreseaumobile.arcep.fr) updated to include speed and latency measurement tests collected through Ookla's Speedtest app.

FRANCE 27 MRT

France's TDF to start 5G Broadcast service roll-out later this year

Infrastructure operator TDF has confirmed that the operational deployment of 5G Broadcast will start later this year. The service will first launch across around 20 locations in France, representing a population of over 12 million. Deployment activities will continue until 2028, targeting 320 broadcasting sites and coverage of 40 million people.

FRANCE 27 MRT

IaaS adoption rate among French enterprises still limited at 14% in 2025 – study

French telecom regulator Arcep said that the IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) model had been adopted by a limited proportion of enterprises in 2025. According to the annual 'Novascope' study carried out by Enov, the vast majority of companies with 500 to 4,999 employees had yet to invest in IaaS, with only 14 percent using this type of cloud computing services for at least part of their IT systems.The study is based on telephone interviews with staff in charge of ICT resources across more than 3,500 Frenc

FRANCE 26 MRT

TDF modernises cell tower operations with digital twinning

French infrastructure operator TDF said that it is investing in a 3D modelling project to improve operations across its cell tower footprint. Currently under way, this initiative consists of creating digital twins of telecom facilities, in collaboration with digital transformation specialist Arkance. It has already delivered models of over 3,500 cell sites, using modelling software developed by Autodesk. An AI layer is currently under development and will be integrated into the digital twins to provide addi

FRANCE 26 MRT

SFR Business wins cyber security contract in Pays de la Loire region

SFR's sister company SFR Business secured a new contract through a tender process run by the procurement unit within French public interest entity Gigalis, which facilitates the digital transformation of public sector organisations in the Pays de la Loire region. This framework contract will enable Gigalis' members to access SFR Business' product portfolio, including offers powered by over a dozen cybersecurity specialists. Alongside the protection of networks and applications, SFR Business' local teams wil

FRANCE 26 MRT

OVHcloud builds gen AI capabilities with acquisition of Dragon LLM

OVHcloud has announced the acquisition of French start-up Dragon LLM, which specialises in adapting generative AI models to specific business needs. Founded a decade ago as Lingua Custodia, Dragon LLM has developed its own AI architecture trained on European supercomputers. Its efforts were recognised at the Large AI Grand Challenge organised by the European Commission in 2024. The start-up officially presented its own AI architecture in October 2025, describing it as a "game changer" because it can achieve

FRANCE 26 MRT

Hub One promotes Mechin to CEO

French ICT group Hub One, part of the airport conglomerate ADP, announced the appointment of Nicolas Mechin as CEO, replacing Guillaume de Lavallade now at the helm of Free Pro. Mechin joined Hub One less than a year ago to lead the group's telecom operations. His career in the telecom sector started over 25 years ago at Orange, before moving to French ISP Ozone in 2004. After founding an IoT hardware and connectivity company in 2009, Mechin spent over a decade at NTT Data, where he was promoted to vice pre

FRANCE 25 MRT

Arcep consults on cost model to secure sustainability of public-initiative fibre networks

French telecom authority Arcep has made further progress on its work to create an objective benchmark for the operating and maintenance costs of public-initiative fibre networks, following the consultation process launched in mid-2025. The regulator is now inviting comments from stakeholders on a proposed cost reference model for keeping the networks in operational condition. This latest consultation document also includes recommendations on how costs should be factored into the wholesale tariffs charged to

FRANCE 25 MRT

Orange in talks to sell Globecast to French investment firm Verdoso

Orange has announced exclusive negotiations with Verdoso for the planned sale of Globecast, its subsidiary specialising in managed content-distribution and media-transport services. Based in Paris, Verdoso has nearly 30 years of experience investing in mid-market companies facing change and requiring transformation. Orange said that the proposed deal would make Verdoso a reference shareholder capable of supporting Globecast in a structurally shifting market. Employee representative bodies will be consulted,

FRANCE 23 MRT

French regulator consults on TDF commitments in DTT wholesale market

France's telecom authority Arcep has published a consultation introducing the fifth market analysis process for wholesale DTT broadcasting services. This will shape the future framework regulating market leader TDF, in anticipation of the end of the current cycle on 17 May 2027. As at the start of the fourth market analysis process, TDF has put forward a number of commitments to Arcep, which would have a validity of five years if approved. These undertakings set out how TDF will continue to grant access to

FRANCE 20 MRT

Eranium brings Era-IX peering service to Telehouse data centre in Paris

Dutch company Eranium has announced that its Era-IX peering service will become available in the coming weeks at Telehouse's Paris 2 Voltaire data centre, with additional facilities to follow in the future. The service was first introduced in Amsterdam, where Eranium's customers can now connect via the Era-IX platform from multiple locations, before expanding to several sites within the Frankfurt metro area.

FRANCE 20 MRT

Google Pixel becomes official smartphone of French national football team

Google has announced a sponsorship agreement with the French Football Federation (FFF), under which Google Pixel will be promoted as the official smartphone of the national team, known as Les Bleus. The partnership also grants Google the newly created status of technology partner of the national team. In practice, the FFF will be able to take advantage of Google's expertise in AI and search to enhance fan engagement and marketing activities. Among the joint initiatives, the 'Shot on Pixel' programme will ai

FRANCE 20 MRT

SFR offers eSIM transfers between iPhone and Android devices

French operator SFR said that customers with selected smartphones can now benefit from the automatic transfer of eSIM profiles between iOS- and Android-powered handsets. This service was previously restricted to transfers between devices running the same operating system (iOS-to-iOS or Android-to-Android). The list of compatible iOS models covers iPhones from the 11 series or more recent, while availability on Android requires the Google Pixel 9 and 10 series.

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Background

29 MRT 22:46

The week in telecoms: Italy brings back PTT, US bans foreign routers and social media on trial

23 MRT 00:38

The week in telecoms: OFC and Nvidia events drive data centre networking talk, Orange debuts full French office stack

16 MRT 00:25

The week in telecoms: Pakistan ready for 5G, Google exits FTTH market and Canal Plus works on pay-TV turnaround

6 MRT 16:00

The week in telecom: MWC brings 5G advances, AI and satellite integration, plus first robot phone