Prime Minister Jean Castex announced this Saturday an increase in aid to individuals for the installation of fiber optics. Previously set at 150 euros, it can now reach 300 or even 600 euros for anyone wishing to benefit from very high speed Internet. The objective: to cover the entire territory by the end of 2022.
In 2018, the French government set up the “digital cohesion of territories” system, an aid of 150 euros for individuals and companies wishing to equip themselves with fiber optics. This subsidy, aimed at covering the cost of equipment and installation, will now be reassessed in order to further accelerate the deployment of very high speed in France.
“The finding is that this amount is not enough to allow people to equip themselves. So we decided to go to 300 euros, or even 600 euros”, Jean Castex announced this Saturday, during a trip to Moulin-Neuf, in Ariège. Accompanied by Cédric O, Secretary of State for Digital Affairs, the Prime Minister unveiled the new stage of the “France Very High Speed” plan, aimed at cover the entire territory by the end of 2022.
On the same subject: Fiber optics — beware, these fake letters offering a connection are scams
Take advantage of a grant of €300 to install fiber optics
This aid follows the investment of 150 million euros aimed at helping operators install fiber optics in rural areas. Indeed, according to a UFC-Que Choisir study published a few days ago, 32% of Internet users living in rural areas do not have a connection greater than 8 Mbits/s. Thanks to this strategy, the government hopes to enable all French people to benefit from a speed of at least 30 Mbits/s by the end of the year.
To do this, the State has gone into overdrive. While the budget was previously €350,000/year, the latter has invested 250 million euros in the last two years for the recruitment of more than 4,000 France Service Digital Advisors. France is now number 1 in the deployment of fiber optics in Europe, with 28.3 million premises benefiting 67% of French people. Orange recently announced that it had exceeded 6 million fiber optic subscribers.
Source: European 1
