Networks : The French Riviera is right in the middle of high speed networks

Completel, the American operator is going to invest 100 million francs on three years, to build a 60 km network that will link Nice to Sophia Antipolis, via Saint-Laurent du Var, Cagnes and Antibes.

Paradoxically, Nice will have its network of optical fibre before Sophia Antipolis. Completel, that inaugurated its settling on the French Riviera on late June 7th , could make better progress in Nice than in Sophia. Even the optical transmission link between Nice and the technopole is more advanced. Currently, 25 km fibres have been pulled on Nice, and the American telecom operator comes from Nice to Marineland via the RN7; therefore, it serves Saint-Laurent du Var, Cagnes-sur-mer and a part of Antibes. As it comes up via Biot, it should be soon at the doors of Sophia Antipolis, near the Toyota design centre, on the road of Biot.Sophia : a network for the whole of the operatorsOn Sophia Antipolis, the case is less easy. Considering the several operators' demands, the regional Council chose to set the resources in networks. In other words, further to an invitation to tender, two operators were retained to realise the network (Completel will be in charge of the Sophia Antipolis loop, the length of which is about 17 km, and Bouygues will connect the loop to the outside area, by the motorway). But, they have to fan out sheathes for the cuttings (between twenty and thirty) to allow the operators (who wish so) to pull their own optical fibres without digging again and opening roads.Today, the project is about summing up the operators' demands, section by section. An aggregation is under way, which will allow to know the number of sheathes that have to be fanned out on each part of the loop. It is possible to wish the local loop in optical fibre could work by the end of the year on the technopole. Completel, which is going to fan out 60 km optical fibres between Nice and Sophia Antipolis, will devote up to 100 million francs on three years, to the network infrastructures and to the switching and transmission apparatus that goes with them.The tariff offer is rather aggressiveAs the rate of the optical fibre is almost unlimited, the Completel network will also bring a very-high-speed link Between Nice and Sophia Antipolis. It will contribute to give substance to the concept of an associated park that the town council of Nice wants to set up in the plain of the Var, closely with the technopole. As for the offer of Completel, it is meant to be for medium-sized companies (up to 20 to 30 employees). The range of the services that is offered, goes from the usual telephony (local, national, international telephony by a direct connection to the high-speed network of Completel) to the high-speed Internet access with pass-bands from 2 to 622 megabits a second and even over…Completel has got a real asset thanks to its tariff. Particularly, the operator offers an Internet access at 128 kilobits that are guaranteed with the possibility to go up to 2 megabits, without extra-charge, for a 30% lower price than its main competitors' one. Thanks to the radio local loop that should be set up from this summer (the ART, the Authority of Regulation of Telecom, will have to announce the two winners' name, in July), the French Riviera is going to enter the era of the telecom high-speed networks, as early as this year…