Orange gets regulatory clearance to put VDSL2 over all its copper lines

Orange has gotten regulatory clearance from the Autorite de Regulation des Communications Electroniques et des Postes (Arcep) and its independent Committee of Experts to implement VDSL2 over all of its existing copper lines that are connected to its remote terminal (RT) cabinets.

Although VDSL2 will enable Orange to deliver higher downlink speeds, actual performance can vary on homes whose copper lines are longer than 1 km due to the technology's inherent physical limitations.

The Committee of Experts has extended the authorized use of VDSL2 to both indirect distribution lines (23.3 million) and all of the lines running from an exchange on the Orange copper local loop (30.8 million).

By allowing Orange to put VDSL2 on all lines that emanate from an exchange/cabinet, it will extend service to 14.5 percent of its copper lines. Orange now has one month to implement VDSL2 in its wholesale service portfolio, while competitive providers have three months to equip their networks to offer VDSL2 in other parts of the country, with a nationwide launch set for this fall.

Arcep revealed in a decision in April that 2.7 million of the telco's lines were eligible to get the higher speed VDSL2 service. The regulator said that if Orange were to put VDSL2 on direct distribution lines and re-engineered cabinets, it would affect 8.7 percent of France's population.

Besides VDSL2, Arcep is also looking at the potential impact of other higher speed copper-based broadband technologies, including fiber to the distribution point (FTTdp) by creating a new working group in February. Orange's Orange Polska subsidiary is conducting a field trial of Aethra's Telecommunications FTTdp technology with customers in Warsaw, Poland.

For more:
- TeleGeography has this article

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