When we moved to Carcassonne in 2016 the plan was that all of the city would be wired with fiber optic cable within 2 years and that even the surrounding communities would be covered by the end of this year. Then the devastating floods arrived one night in October, 2018 taking with them lives, portions of villages, and lots of infrastructure including telephone lines. Personnel who had been involved in completing that original coverage plan within the city were understandably redirected to the outlying areas to reconnect those who were now isolated because of washed out bridges, rail lines, and any means of communication. Happily, last month we received an email from our Internet provider that our home was now eligible for fiber and we could schedule an appointment by clicking on the provided link, which we did almost as soon as we opened their message. Next we had to figure out how to cope with the installation in the middle of the Covid-19 lockdown. After a delay of 16 months we were determined to make this work.
Fortunately, the service provider that we use had already put online their recommendations for following the government guidelines related to the health crisis:
- Aerate your house an hour before the appointment.
- Only one household member, wearing a surgical mask, should greet the technician.
- You should always stand at least 1 meter (3 feet) from the technician.
- The technician would need access to a sink for handwashing before leaving.
To supplement those precautions:
- We removed all loose objects from any sort of table top so that we could easily disinfect all flat surfaces once the technician was gone.
- After the appointment, Bill sterilized his mask with boiling water and immediately washed his clothes.
- I stayed elsewhere in the house with all doors closed between that room and the front door.
Our appointment start time was for between 8:00 and 10:00 AM with an expected duration of 2 to 4 hours. The team of 2 arrived at 8:20 and were gone two hours later. Our wireless Internet speed with our prior ADSL line was consistently at 18 Mbit/s and now with fibre the speed test meter approaches 500 Mbit/s. Bring on those 4K movies!
The charge for this new service is 50 euros a month that also includes 100 TV channels plus unlimited calls to anywhere in the world that we are ever likely to telephone. Ironically, on the day that we received that eligibility email for this super fast fiber, streaming services such as Netflix (using 25 percent of the bandwidth in Europe) and Amazon Prime announced that they would be slowing their speeds to ensure Internet access to everyone who was now working at home. Oh well, until we decide upon a subscription there are several pay-TV channels that are temporarily free to enjoy movies, concerts, and shows of all descriptions. We definitely won’t be bored staying at home.
Links:
Fiber coverage map for France: https://reseaux.orange.fr/cartes-de-couverture/fibre-optique
Compare fiber offers in France: https://www.ariase.com/box/offres/fibre-optique
Let's Live In France 
Glad your fibre experience was painfree. Ours was more problematic but now it’s such a joy!
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When the fibre first arrived at the top and bottom of our street last year there were problems after installation. We are happy that was sorted out before they made it to us. We actually do have the 1GB download they advertise on wired connections.
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That’s great, and we’re glad that the install went smoothly. Our provider does not yet offer fiber-optic in our area.They do boast that their current system offers speeds of up to 1.21Gigawatts! (Oh wait, I may be confusing that with a movie…) However, they add the disclaimer that “Actual speeds may vary”. I think they mean “vary” close to dial-up!
Hope you’re both staying safe and sane!
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Surprising to hear technicians are working as pairs as I thought that was forbidden during the pandemic. It’s why we still don’t have our new fencing and gates that were scheduled to be installed on March 20th, and our other projects are all on hold. Glad you got it done! I think we’re a long way from fiber optics in our part of sleepy Charente. 😉
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The technicians drove separately and one worked above on the lines while the other worked inside the house, together but separate.
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We were told 2015 for our fiber installation. Some of the surrounding neighborhoods got it last year and it looks like they’ll finally laying the wire in the center of town next to us. So hopefully within a year, and of course we’ll have to change providers, since Orange is the fiber provider.
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Terry, Here in Carcassonne you can use any provider to access the fiber even though it is Orange that is laying the cable on the exterior. When you stay with your current provider you do not get the first year discounts usually.
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