The rollout of high-speed fibre internet across France enters a new phase this year as more of the old copper ADSL connections will be switched off – so how well served are French towns and cities when it comes to internet speeds?
There was a time when the internet connections in France outside of the big cities were notoriously poor, which countryside dwellers forced to make do with achingly slow and unreliable connections.
However, over the past decade France has been working to roll out high-speed fibre internet connections to every town, village and hamlet in the country in what is known as the Plan France Très Haut Débit.
With an estimated 95 percent of premises in France now connectable to the high-speed fibre network, at the same time, the 50-year-old copper network will be switched off, meaning that ADSL internet connections will disappear.
The shutdown of the copper network began in 2025 and is being carried out progressively by batches of municipalities, in two stages: commercial closure followed by technical closure at least 12 months later.
Orange France, which is responsible for the disconnection work, plans for all lines to be shut down by the end of 2030, meaning that services using the copper network — any telephone connected to a T-shaped socket or ADSL internet subscription — will cease to operate.
By the end of 2025, the copper network was definitively shut down in 162 municipalities, with the pace now accelerating. By the end of January 2026, another 763 towns and villages will be switched off.
From January 31st, 2026, new copper offers will no longer be marketed in 26,000 of France’s 34,000 or so municipalities, though most operators already only offer fibre for new contracts.
You can see when any future switch-off is planned in your area by clicking on to the Economy Ministry website.
The switch-off is being overseen by the Autorité de Régulation des Communications électroniques, des postes et de la distribution de la Presse (Arcep).
You can check your connection type via your bills or on your online account for your internet provider. Your internet provider should inform you well in advance of the change, and give you options on price to make the switch.
Since September, financial assistance has been available to households struggling to make the switchover from the older ADSL connection.
Depending on the services that you already have (internet, TV, fixed phone line) you may be able to make the switch to fibre via a simple phone call to your provider, or via your online account.
If you have an older connection, you may be sent out a new decoder box to allow you to access fibre services, or it may require a visit from a technician – although your account itself should stay the same.
When it comes to switching from ADSL to fibre, price comparison websites report that there is little to no difference in price for most operators, although several sites noted that the low-cost operators RED and Sosh offer the same prices only for the first six months of a new fibre contract, before reverting to a higher price.
Do you live in rural France? How are your internet speeds? Share your experiences in the comments section below
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
