• In Loire-Atlantique, the second phase of work for the connection to fiber has been launched.

  • Despite delays in some areas, the departmental council ensures that everyone will be covered within four years.

Telework, take distance courses, watch films… With the health crisis, the need for a fast and efficient Internet connection has been felt even more among the population. An issue of which the Loire-Atlantique departmental council is well aware, which announced on Tuesday the operational launch of the second phase of work for the deployment of optical fiber in the territory. Objective: very high speed coverage of 100% of the population (excluding urban areas, managed by private operators) by 2025.

An ambitious promise while the first phase, which cost the department the juicy envelope of 108 million euros, is not yet completed ... After the community was already complaining two years ago of "slowness" and " lack of human resources ”, the deployment piloted by Orange is now“ eight months behind schedule ”. Concretely, only 55,000 premises of the department were connected (ie half of the objective), which even earned the operator “financial penalties”. "We will have finished this first phase in 2023", hopes Jérôme Alémany, president of the Loire Atlantique Numérique Régie. Dysfunctions also denounced by some mayors, (as very recently still in the south of the Nantes metropolis) who deplore a non-respect of timetables and "exasperated inhabitants".

"Speed ​​up" operations

Aware of "the pressing demand of the population" and taking advantage of a "context that has changed", the departmental council has chosen to go about it differently for the second phase, which provides for the upcoming connection of the 179,000 new and last homes or companies.

As part of a public service delegation, it chose Fibre44 to “speed up” operations.

It is also this company which will finance them in their entirety, thanks to its shareholders and its banking partners, before marketing them to traditional operators.

It must be said that the interest of developers in equipping rural areas has only grown in recent years.

Concretely, 48,000 new outlets must therefore be installed by the end of 2022, 108,000 in 2023. Priority has been given to the 60 municipalities concerned by the first phase, to the activity zones, and to the main town centers.

That the inhabitants and employees of La Haye-Fouassière, Abbaretz or Treillières rejoice: the work for the arrival of fiber has just started.

The others can wait thanks to this dedicated website, which allows you to follow the progress of the connection in real time.

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Subscription rate

In Loire-Atlantique, the subscription rate is currently 27%, ie 27% of people connected to fiber decide to subscribe to it.

This figure has been increasing in recent months.

  • High-Tech

  • Optical fiber

  • Internet

  • Nantes

  • Society