Arcep issues formal notices to Orange and XpFibre over fiber optic deployment

The French telecommunications regulator, Arcep, has issued formal notices to Orange and XpFibre regarding their failure to meet fiber optic completeness obligations. The decisions, dated July 21, 2026, and made public on October 19, 2026, target 617 mutualization points at Orange and 105 at XpFibre.

Completeness obligations require infrastructure operators to ensure that all homes and businesses within a designated zone—typically serving at least 1,000 units—can be rapidly connected to the network. Arcep has set a deadline of January 31, 2027, for these operators to address the deficiencies.

In a separate regulatory move, Arcep has proposed new pricing guidelines to help infrastructure operators cover the maintenance costs of rural fiber networks, which serve 45% of the French population. The regulator suggests that wholesale prices could increase by 0.5 to 2 euros per active monthly internet access to prevent network degradation. However, industry stakeholders and local authorities have expressed significant concern, arguing that these proposed increases are insufficient to offset actual operational costs.