He will take up the mantle of seeking a new deal for the telecom sector at the European level, in order to find the conditions for sustainable investment in digital infrastructure
The French Telecoms Federation (FFTélécoms) board has elected Laurent Halimi, secretary general of Altice-SFR, as president for a one-year term. The appointment comes as the federation upped the ante by releasing its latest telecom sector study, with EY Parthenon, which highlights what the operators argue is a “growing imbalance between telecom operators and other digital players”. In 2023, the report found that operators generated 34% of the digital sector’s revenues, while assuming 53% of investments and 56% of tax contributions, “due in particular to the ever-increasing weight of specific telecom taxation, reaching a record amount of almost €1.6 billion in 2023.”
“I appreciate the honour and responsibility of taking over the presidency of FFTélécoms in the interest of an essential industrial sector of our society. I will ensure that I defend the interests of all FFTélécoms member operators and in particular secure their economic model at a pivotal moment for our sector,” said Halimi. “I will also strive to promote constructive collaboration with public authorities and local authorities, to guarantee robust, sustainable digital infrastructures that are accessible to all.”
FFTélécoms said a new deal is needed for the telecom sector, in order to find the conditions for sustainable investment in digital infrastructures, necessary for the competitiveness of the entire economy. These debates were opened at European level by the European Commission’s White Paper on Connectivity, the Letta Report on the Future of the Single Market and the Draghi Report on European Competitiveness. Each of these papers still has vociferous critics so the path forward will be a slow one.
The EY Parthenon report found that since 2019, French telecom operators have maintained an average annual growth of 16% in the number of premises eligible for very high speed broadband, bringing this total to more than 39 million premises in 2024 – with 89% coverage of premises in June 2024.
This was supported by cumulative investments of 113 billion euros over the last decade, including 14 billion in 2023. This level of commitment far exceeds that of other French infrastructure sectors, in particular electricity, rail and motorway networks.
Despite this performance, the report said the specific taxation weighing on operators continues to grow (+5% per year), reaching 1.6 billion euros in 2023. Telecom operators are subject to a level of taxation twice as high, while they invest more than twice as much as the average for companies listed on the CAC 40.
Orange steps down
Halimi succeeded Nicolas Guérin, secretary general of the Orange group, now vice-president of the federation, alongside Juliette Lallemand-Victor, secretary general of Bouygues Telecom, newly elected vice-president. Philippe Hallopeau, director of regulatory affairs at Odigo, was elected treasurer. A lawyer by training, Laurent Halimi began his career in several law firms before joining the Altice group in 2016. Since 2020, he has held the position of head of M&A for Altice Europe and since August 2022 the position of secretary general of Altice France (where he was also executive legal director).
New members
FFTélécoms recently welcomed Orange Concessions and XpFibre as members, meaning its members now represent nearly 31 million premises that can be connected to fibre, or nearly 80% of the total.
“The membership of Orange Concessions, a ‘pure player’ infrastructure operator on behalf of local authorities and other IOs will promote closer collaboration with the entire ecosystem brought together within the FFTélécoms, industrial operators and commercial operators, general public operators and business operators,” said Orange Concessions president Jean-Germain Breton. “We will include our work in an ambitious OI Fibre roadmap that will quickly bear fruit, particularly in terms of the quality of interventions on the networks and quality of service.”
“Present in ZTD, in AMII and AMEL zones, and as a partner of many communities, XpFibre is proud to join FFTélécoms and to be able to strengthen working ties with the various operators,” added XpFibre president Lionel Recorbet. “In view of the upcoming closure of the copper network, this strengthened cooperation should allow us to ensure quality of service for individuals and businesses while preserving the economic fundamentals of infrastructure operators.”