Telecommunications in France are highly developed. France is served by an extensive system of automatic

telephone exchange A telephone exchange, telephone switch, or central office is a telecommunications system used in the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or in large enterprises. It interconnects telephone subscriber lines or virtual circuits of digital syst ...

s connected by modern networks of

fiber-optic An optical fiber, or optical fibre in Commonwealth English, is a flexible, transparent fiber made by drawing glass (silica) or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a human hair. Optical fibers are used most often as a means t ...

cable,

coaxial cable Coaxial cable, or coax (pronounced ) is a type of electrical cable consisting of an inner conductor surrounded by a concentric conducting shield, with the two separated by a dielectric ( insulating material); many coaxial cables also have a p ...

microwave radio relay Microwave transmission is the transmission of information by electromagnetic waves with wavelengths in the microwave frequency range of 300MHz to 300GHz(1 m - 1 mm wavelength) of the electromagnetic spectrum. Microwave signals are normally lim ...

, and a domestic satellite system; cellular telephone service is widely available, expanding rapidly, and includes

roaming Roaming is a wireless telecommunication term typically used with mobile devices, such as mobile phones. It refers to a mobile phone being used outside the range of its native network and connecting to another available cell network. Technical ...

service to foreign countries.

Fixed-line telephony

The telephony system employs an extensive system of modern network elements such as digital

mobile switching centre Network switching subsystem (NSS) (or GSM core network) is the component of a GSM system that carries out call out and mobility management functions for mobile phones roaming on the network of base stations. It is owned and deployed by mobil ...

s, media gateways and

signalling gateway A signaling gateway is a network component responsible for transferring signaling messages (i.e. information related to call establishment, billing, location, short messages, address conversion, and other services) between Common Channel Signaling ...

s at the core, interconnected by a wide variety of transmission systems using

fibre-optics An optical fiber, or optical fibre in Commonwealth English, is a flexible, transparent fiber made by drawing glass (silica) or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a human hair. Optical fibers are used most often as a means t ...

Microwave radio relay Microwave transmission is the transmission of information by electromagnetic waves with wavelengths in the microwave frequency range of 300MHz to 300GHz(1 m - 1 mm wavelength) of the electromagnetic spectrum. Microwave signals are normally lim ...

networks. The

access network An access network is a type of telecommunications network which connects subscribers to their immediate service provider. It is contrasted with the core network, which connects local providers to one another. The access network may be further ...

, which connects the subscriber to the core, is highly diversified with different copper-pair, optic-fibre and wireless technologies. The fixed-line telecommunications market is dominated by the former state-owned monopoly

France Telecom Orange S.A. (), formerly France Télécom S.A. (stylized as france telecom) is a French multinational telecommunications corporation. It has 266 million customers worldwide and employs 89,000 people in France, and 59,000 elsewhere. In 2015, ...

. Telephones – main lines in use: 36.441 million; 35.5 million (metropolitan France) (2009) Telephones – mobile cellular: 60.95 million; 59.543 million (metropolitan France) (2009)

International connection

Satellite

earth station A ground station, Earth station, or Earth terminal is a terrestrial radio station designed for extraplanetary telecommunication with spacecraft (constituting part of the ground segment of the spacecraft system), or reception of radio waves fro ...

s – 2

Intelsat Intelsat S.A. (formerly INTEL-SAT, INTELSAT, Intelsat) is a multinational satellite services provider with corporate headquarters in Luxembourg and administrative headquarters in Tysons Corner, Virginia, United States. Originally formed as In ...

(with total of 5 antennas – 2 for Indian Ocean and 3 for Atlantic Ocean), NA

Eutelsat Eutelsat S.A. is a French satellite operator. Providing coverage over the entire European continent, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Americas, it is the world's third-largest satellite operator in terms of revenues. Eutelsat's satellit ...

, 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean region); HF radiotelephone communications with more than 20 countries

Radio

Radio stations: AM 41, FM about 3,500 (this figure is an approximation and includes many repeaters), shortwave 2 (1998) Radios: 55.3 million (1997)

Television

Television stations: 584 (plus 9,676 repeaters) (1995) Televisions: 34.8 million (1997)

Internet

Internet country code A country code top-level domain (ccTLD) is an Internet top-level domain generally used or reserved for a country, sovereign state, or dependent territory identified with a country code. All ASCII ccTLD identifiers are two letters long, and all t ...

: .fr

Internet service provider An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise private ...

s (ISPs): 62 (2000)

Internet host A network host is a computer or other device connected to a computer network. A host may work as a server offering information resources, services, and applications to users or other hosts on the network. Hosts are assigned at least one network a ...

s: 15,182,001; 15.161 million (metropolitan France) (2010) Internet users: 45.262 million; 44.625 million (metropolitan France) (2009)

Mobile networks

France currently has 4 mobile networks,

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

SFR SFR (; ''Société française du radiotéléphone'', ) is a French telecommunications company. As of December 2015, it had 21.9 million customers in Metropolitan France for mobile services, and provided 6.35 million households with high-spee ...

Bouygues Telecom Bouygues Telecom () is a French mobile phone, Internet service provider and IPTV company, part of the Bouygues group. It is the third oldest mobile network operator in France, after Orange and SFR, and before Free Mobile. Its headquarters, de ...

and

Free Free may refer to: Concept * Freedom, having the ability to do something, without having to obey anyone/anything * Freethought, a position that beliefs should be formed only on the basis of logic, reason, and empiricism * Emancipate, to procur ...

all of which are licensed for UMTS. All except Free are also licensed for GSM. In 2016 Q3, Orange had 28.966 million mobile phone customers, SFR had 14.577 million, Bouygues had 12.660 million, Free Mobile had 12.385 million, and the MVNOs had 7.281 million.Parts de marché des opérateurs : Orange loin devant Bouygues qui dépasse Free Mobile
– FrAndroid, 18 November 2016 Before the launch of Free Mobile in January 2012, the number of physical mobile phone operators was very limited. For example,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

currently has 4 licensed operators with their own networks despite a smaller and sparser population than France's, making improved coverage less economically rewarding. However, France has a number of MVNOs which increases competition. However,

Free Mobile Free Mobile () is a French wireless service provider, part of the Iliad group. It was the fourth mobile network operator to obtain a metropolitan French 3G license in 2009. It also obtained a 4G license in 2011. Free Mobile provides wireless ...

obtained its licence in December 2009 and operates since January 2012. In France, the satellite telecommunications system TELECOM 1 (TC1) will provide high-speed, broadband transfer of digital data between different sections of subscribing companies. Conventional telecommunications links between continental France and its overseas departments will also be supplied.

Overseas departments and regions

Telecommunications in French Guiana Telephones – main lines in use: 47,000 (1995) Telephones – mobile cellular: NA Telephone system: ''domestic:'' fair open wire and microwave radio relay system ''international:'' satellite earth station – 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) Rad ...

Telecommunications in French Polynesia This article is about communications systems in French Polynesia. The Honotua fiber optic cable connected Tahiti to Hawaii in 2010, increasing Internet speeds to 20 gigabits per second from 500 megabits per second. The cable will also connect ...

Telecommunications in Guadeloupe As an overseas department and region of France, Guadeloupe has a developed telecommunication system. Internet In 2019, there were 170,000 active high speed internet broadband subscriptions in Guadeloupe. 3 Internet Service Providers (ISPs) se ...

Telecommunications in New Caledonia Telephones Country calling code: 687 Telephones - main lines in use: 53,300 (2004) (up from 44,000 in 1995) Telephones - mobile cellular: 116,400 (2004) (up from 825 in 1995) Telephone system: ''domestic:'' NA ''international:'' satellite ear ...

Telecommunications in Saint Barthélemy Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...

* Telecommunications in Saint Martin

References

External links

Communications in France – at ''Discover France'' (English)
{{Telecommunications