French high-speed growth led by cable

France had 140,000 FTTH subscribers and 380,000 other (mostly cable) very high-speed internet subscribers at the end of the first quarter, according to figures released by telecom regulator ARCEP.

The country had a total of 21.8 million broadband subscribers at the end of the quarter, up 460,000 on the previous quarter. DSL networks account for the bulk of the increase in regular broadband subscriptions – 390,000 compared with 10,000 for cable, satellite and wireless infrastructures. However, cable accounted for 35,000 of the 55,000 customers who signed up for very high-speed services in the quarter, with the remaining 20,000 taking FTTH services.