Telecoms infrastructure giant Cellnex has launched a new joint venture with French operator, Bouygues Telecom, which will deploy a nationwide full fibre network in France.
The joint venture, which will be 51 per cent owned by Cellnex and 49 per cent owned by Bouygues Telecom, will launch a network that will provide fibre to the home (FTTH) fixed line access to millions of French homes and businesses, whilst simultaneously providing crucial backhaul services that will speed up the rollout of 5G.
"The agreement to roll out a genuine fibre ring in France interconnecting various key elements for the Fixed and Mobile ecosystem ranging from the towers connected to the fibre, the data processing centres distributed in the network, to small cells, represents our commitment to a holistic cooperation model with our key customers to facilitate planning and efficient operation of the telecoms infrastructures networks," said Cellnex CEO, Tobias Martinez.
The JV will invest up to €1 billion over the next seven years and will roll out a full fibre network that spans 31,500km across France. The network will interconnect Bouygues’ telecoms towers and rooftop sites, to provide hyperfast, ultra-reliable connectivity.
“Bouygues Telecom is proud to go with Cellnex into a new partnership which will bring great opportunities to enhance the capacity of our fixed and mobile network through a high performance optical fiber infrastructure, and support and accelerate our 5G rollout. Also to develop new services for our B2B customers and to continue to deliver an excellent Quality of Service to all of our customers,” said Bouygues Télécom network director, Jean Paul Arzel.