REGISTRATION DOCUMENT AND FINANCIAL REPORT - Iliad

6. OVERVIEW OF THE GROUP’S BUSINESS
6.1 PRINCIPAL ACTIVITIES
Fibre optique
de l’opérateur
alternatif
Site France Telecom
CA
Câble
de renvoi
répartiteur
opérateurs
URA
DSLAM
Espace dédié
Schematic diagram of partial unbundling
fréquences basses
filtre
Répartiteur
d'abonnés
fréquences hautes
France Télécom
Opérateur alternatif
Nouveaux équipements
ligne d'abonnés
= boucle locale
Abonnés
filtre
fréquences hautes
fréquences basses
(
modem ADSL
voix
Internet
DSLAM : Digital Subscriber's Line Access Multiplexer
CA : Commutateur d'Abonnés
URA : Unité de Raccordement d'Abonnés
: point frontière de responsabilité
In practice, an alternative operator needs to use an optical fiber network which terminates in France Télécom’s
premises and install its own DSLAM equipment in co-location facilities or in dedicated spaces.
Local loop unbundling completely frees an operator from dependence on France Télécom’s network. The
recurring charges payable to France Télécom relate primarily to the rental of the copper pair, the splitter and the
copper tie cable linking the subscriber’s modem to the operator’s DSLAM 13 .
In the case of full unbundling, the alternative operator uses all the frequencies of a particular copper pair. In this
case the user no longer pays telephone line rental to France Télécom and filters are no longer necessary.
For the purposes of simplification, the following sections contain the abbreviations MSU (for the digital main
switching unit) and LX (for the digital local exchange) in relation to interconnection and the term “France
Télécom site” in relation to local loop unbundling.
6.1.3.2 Development phases of the Group’s network
6.1.3.2.1 Interconnection at the MSUs and all LXs in the Paris urban area
The first development phase of the Group’s network, implemented between August 2000 and April 2001, was the
interconnection at the digital main switching units (MSU) and all digital local exchanges (LX) in the Paris urban
area for the collection of data traffic.
Initially, the Group’s main objective was to interconnect its network to that of France Télécom in order to obtain
a minimum level of national coverage. This required the Group to be connected to at least the 18 France Télécom
MSUs covering all the regions of mainland France. The Group’s network at that time consisted of modem servers
operated by Free and capable of meeting the needs of dial-up Internet subscribers.
Between August 2000, the date of the first interconnection in Lille to the MSU for the northern region, and
June 2001, the date of the last interconnection in Poitiers to the MSU for the central region, Free’s teams ordered
E1 transmission capacity on France Télécom’s network which it interconnected directly to the Group’s network
using optical fibers leased from a provider which had already installed the fiber network.
13 See Sections 9.2.1.2 and 9.2.1.3 of this registration document for a description of the fixed and variable LLU charges.
26 - Iliad – Registration Document 2007