The head of the Iliad / Free group, Thomas Reynaud, pleaded on Tuesday for the acceleration of the timetable for the closure of the copper network in telecoms, to contribute to the electricity savings requested by the government.
"
It's energy nonsense to have two telecom networks in parallel, one in optical fiber and the other in copper
," Thomas Reynaud told the press, presenting the group's half-year results.
"
In areas where fiber has been deployed
", as in large cities for example, "
we must accelerate the closure of copper
", he added.
In February, Orange presented its plan for closing the historic copper network, which must be fully completed by 2030. The group plans a transition phase until 2025 to "
prepare
" the closure of the network, in particular with experiments carried out at the level of municipalities, then a phase of technical closure of the historic network between 2026 and 2030, with the start of the cessation of its marketing.
Reduction of electricity consumption
This plan “
is not ambitious enough
” and it requires a plan “
carried directly by the public authorities
”, estimated Thomas Reynaud.
While the Minister of Digital, Jean-Noël Barrot, spoke on Monday of the preparation of a "
national roadmap
" for a "
green digital
", Thomas Reynaud indicated that Free had been working for some time on reducing electricity consumption. .
“
We have worked a lot on the energy efficiency of the boxes
” and, “
for a year for example, we have decided to turn off certain frequency bands at night
” on the mobile network, he said.
Read alsoSales and profitability up for Iliad/Free in the 1st half
The four telecom operators together represent just under 1% of national electricity consumption, he said.
Iliad/Free will take new measures in response to the government's call: restrictions on heating or illuminated signs, awareness campaign for subscribers who can, for example, cut off their WiFi at night...
The group also supports the government bill on the acceleration of renewable energies, said Thomas Reynaud.
“
Twice recently, we had two beautiful renewable energy projects that fell through
,” he said.
