Summary

  • Arcep's two formal notices cover 617 shared fibre access points operated by Orange and 105 by XpFibre. Both firms must meet the completion obligation by 31 January 2027 and show their work by 1 March.
  • Around 39,000 premises in Orange's selected areas and 6,000 in XpFibre's were not connectable on 1 May 2026. These dated counts describe the areas named in the new orders.

A fibre network can reach the street and still fail at the front door. That is the irritating last act in Arcep's two decisions published on 19 October. Orange has 617 selected points de mutualisation, the shared access points around which a deployment area is organised. XpFibre has 105. The regulator has given both until 31 January 2027 to meet the obligation to complete the network in those areas, and until 1 March to prove they did it.

The addresses give the order its weight. Arcep found approximately 39,000 premises unable to connect in the Orange areas and 6,000 in the XpFibre areas, using the state of the networks on 1 May 2026. The combined number is a snapshot of the selected areas, not a fresh October count of every unserved French address. It is still a large enough collection of doors to expose the difference between a network passing nearby and a service a resident can buy.

The regulator did not simply count unfinished points. It excluded points already covered by its 2024 notices: 7,752 for Orange and 743 for XpFibre. It then separated the new selection by the age of the completion clock. For Orange, 583 points began that clock before May 2021 and 34 during the rest of 2021. For XpFibre, the split is 100 and five. The earlier group has already spent more than five years in a framework that regards two to five years, according to local conditions, as a reasonable completion horizon. The later group faces a documented risk of reaching its deadline with a substantial share still unavailable.

The technical label matters. Orange had classified about 25,000 premises across roughly 4,800 access points as raccordables sur demande: connectable on request. Arcep found that, at some points, this status covered a substantial share without enough explanation of why the delayed final branch was justified. A label that postpones a build is an operational decision. When it spreads without a defensible case, a coverage report can look cleaner while the customer still waits for a usable line.

Both companies pointed to obstacles including refusals by public authorities. Arcep's decisions require a dated account of the work done to overcome them. Ordinary permitting friction does not, on its own, explain years of missing final branches; an exceptional unresolved barrier needs evidence of early, diligent attempts and alternative routes considered. That shifts the argument from “the permit was hard” to “show the sequence, the obstacle, the action and the remaining dependency.”

The orders specify a finish line and a receipt. The firms must bring the named areas into compliance by 31 January, then justify compliance to Arcep by 1 March. Those dates will make the status of the selected premises testable against a construction record. A map may show the street coloured in; an orderable line at the door is the part a household can use.

Sources