The conference, organized yesterday morning by the FIRIP and CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre, in the parisian premises of this firm of business lawyers, was attended by a discerning audience, who came to exchange views on the situation and future issues relating to the private financing of Networks of Public Initiative (RIP), very high speed.
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The appetite of private investors (CDC, infrastructure funds,…) and the world bank for the development projects of digital optical fiber now seems to be confirmed. It is the result of challenges raised by the Plan ” France High Speed “, with a coverage rate of the French population and 30 Mbit/s to more than 50% at the end of march 2017 and prospects of coverage FTTH amounting to 80% by 2022).
The Plan France Very High-Speed has also been hailed to be a ground breaking example of the implementation of a structuring project, powerful and efficient, carried out in a decentralized manner and in which local authorities have entered their role with ambition and without cleavage.
Today, the communities undertake a real race against the clock to choose the design-builder and the operator of their network in the future (14 procedures for the allocation of draft RIP are currently in progress), calling on operators to stop their funding in a time more concise.
The experts at the forum, however, recalled that the financing of the RIP requires the analysis of certain risks.
Beyond the risk of construction and technology, it is the marketing risk which weighs heavily in discussions between funders and sub-delegates of the RIP. The price, the “product mix” (rental passive, rental, active or co-investment) and the rate of penetration are then examined with a magnifying glass. The announcement of the INSEE of a forthcoming creation of a price index in the sector, telecom is also welcomed by the stakeholders in the sector, this index can determine the evolution of the wholesale rates offered by the entity during the life of the projects.
“The marketing risk must however be relativized in the short – medium term, including for the operators of the RIP which are not in the quality of integrated operator, and, in particular, of the national agreements made between the actors and the strengthening of the competition at the level of the ISP” stresses Pierre-Michel Attali, Director of the centre digital Territories, Idate and VP of the FIRIP.
Regarding the risk of construction, the shortage of human resources in occupations in voltage could be considered as a brake, or even a significant threat, which is likely to generate delays in relation to the deployment goals. It should also be noted that there remains $ 14 million taken fibrer in areas RIP by 2022 and that there will be 5 million beyond that… with funding that must also be mobilized.
A work of pedagogy must finally be made to communities that carry the RIP
“If the perception of the communities is changing, they have not yet sufficiently integrated that the robustness of a project funded by lenders may be higher than the one mounted in corporate financing” pleads one of the operators at the forum, in favour of private investors.
Impose the closure of the documentation of funding too early on in the allocation of projects is not always timely in the light of the duration, sometimes long procedures for the award of public service delegations (DSP) and the evolution of the specifications of the communities.
Regardless, all agree that, even if the subsidy needs could be revised downward (see conclusions of the Observatory of RIP 2017), the financial involvement of local communities is key to ensure the equalization and equity of territorial development in a very high speed. “With this model, co-funded by the public and the private actors of the telecoms are trying to invent a system of funding the public service, especially effective, which could be duplicated to other sectors,” says Eric Jammaron, Director-general of Axione.
Last warning point raised by the FIRIP :
“The TPE-SMES, sub-contractors of the delegated public service, are faced with strong prospects of development, requiring funding, without being able to get firm commitments over the long term, through a portfolio of signed purchase orders,” explains Etienne Dugas, President of the FIRIP.
That is why, the federation has announced its decision to establish a fund for the sector, like those in place in other sectors, such as aerospace, to finance the needs of these industries. With a fifteen million euros, this fund will be managed by Innovafonds. It will help fund a dozen projects in a first time, and should be put in place by the end of the year. An appeal has been launched to abound.
Speakers :
– Etienne Dugas, president of the FIRIP
– Pierre-Michel Attali, director of the centre digital Territories, IDATE and vice-president of the FIRIP
– Thierry Bodard, managing director, NGE
– David El Fassy, president and CEO, Altitude Infrastructure
– Laurent Chabot, co-head of infrastructure Funding Société Générale
– Eric Jammaron, director general delegate, Axione
– Gael Serandour, head of digital Infrastructure, Caisse des dépôts et consignations
– François Tenailleau, associate attorney in public law and infrastructure, CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre
– Audrey Maurel, lawyer in public law and law of electronic communications, CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre
– Sadri Desenne-Djoudi, a lawyer in banking and financial law and project finance, CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre
About the FIRIP :
Created on December 6, 2012 the Federation of Industrial Networks of Public Initiative (FIRIP), includes more than 180 companies, a turnover of 2 billion euros in 2016 in the RIP, representing 8.100 direct jobs in the various trades of the value chain of the RIP.
It demonstrates the economic importance of this new branch which wishes to participate actively in the Great project of the deployment of the THD estimated at more than € 20 billion by 2022, which is funded by the Public and the Private. The federation also wants to help in the promotion of the trades of the fibre deployment, and the qualification expertise necessary for the implementation of high speed broadband.
The FIRIP is the questioner Industrial Mission France very high speed, she is a member of the Strategic Committee of the Digital Sector, and showcases the tremendous impact of the deployment of the optical Fiber on the economy and on employment.
The Federation, develops constructive partnerships and non-exclusive with the set of institutional actors, the technical, the Regulator and the major economic players in the telecommunications sector, in order to contribute to the development of this sector. Cf. www.firip.fr
Federation of Industrial Networks of Public Initiative (FIRIP) – 11/17 rue de l’amiral Hamelin – 75783 Paris Cedex 16 – www.firip.fr
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