TELECOMS: FRANCE TELECOM SEES ITS FUTURE IN FIBRE-OPTIC NETWORKS.

France Telecom plans to test very-high-bit Internet access in Paris before the summer, a first step towards building a fibre-optic network. This is an expensive option but one that would enable it to fight off extremely aggressive competitors. France Telecom CEO Didier Lombard announced the launch of pilot zones at a press conference on January 17, heralding the deployment of a fibre-optic network reaching right into subscribers' homes. With transmissions two or three times faster than ADSL broadband connections, subscribers will be able to access high-definition television, unlimited telephony, ultra fast Internet access and other services such as online games, video phones etc. The price to consumers is expected to be about euro 80 a month, again two or three times higher than ADSL.

The experiment is based on the cutting edge FTTH (Fibre to the home) technology, which is still not widely used around the world except in South Korea and to a lesser extent the United States. The technology is costly, given the need to install fibre-optic cables - which currently exist along only part of the network - right into subscribers' homes. However, this option also has great potential since it promises speeds of up to 50 megabits/second, whereas ADSL (Internet via telephones) can currently only offer 25 megabits/second at best. Mr Lombard estimates the investment per subscriber needed...