Neuf Cegetel
Encyclopedia
Neuf Cegetel is a French wireline telecom services provider and a mobile virtual network operator
(MVNO) offering different services to consumers, enterprises and wholesale customers, ranking number two in the country (based on annual revenues). It was legally established in 2005 following the completion of the merger between Neuf Telecom (formerly known as LDCOM) and Cegetel. As of June 2008, the company is a wholly owned subsidiary
of SFR
.
, "with a mission to rapidly gain access to a network, penetrate into the center of the major urban areas, provide means of interconnection with the motorway networks, and offer the possibility of competitive long-distance links". The group was originally providing services to other operators and internet services providers (national and metro fiber networks, colocation and hosting centers...). In other words, it was present on the wholesale market only. LDCOM was the owner of the network. Its main subsidiary, LD Cable, was in charge of carrying out the engineering work, obtaining the necessary permits for the construction works, supplying the fiber optic cables, laying optical cables using rights of way beside waterways, through pipelines and along transport infrastructure, negotiating with local and regional authorities in France.
Cegetel was a separate company established in 1996 as a subsidiary of "Groupe SFR Cegetel", which combined a fixed line operator "Cegetel" and a wireless operator "SFR" established in 1987. Cegetel was France's second fixed-line operator, competing directly with France Telecom
. It had about 2,000 employees and was using the network operated by "Telecom Development" (TD), a joint venture of Cegetel and the French railways, SNCF
. It therefore had extensive network coverage in France: 32,000 kilometers of fiber along France's railway lines and highways, fiber loops in metropolitan centers, points of interconnection at the local exchange level etc.
LDCOM was a smaller company, but it was an opportunistic and fast mover player. Cegetel had good service, recognized brand especially on the enterprise and wholesale segments (over 16,000 corporate clients), but was probably more conservative and therefore was moving at a much slower pace.
Thanks to these acquisitions, in 2003 LDCOM became a major competitor (#3) to France Telecom, across all segments: wholesale, enterprise, residential.
In 2003, Cegetel merged with "Telecom Development" (TD) and was 65 percent owned by Groupe SFR Cegetel and 35 percent by the French railways, SNCF
. Groupe SFR Cegetel was owned 56 percent by Vivendi Universal and 44 percent by Vodafone
.
decided in the late 1990s that ADSL was a strategic decision to make, and also because a favorable regulatory environment was subsequently offered to alternative operators for the implementation of Local Loop Unbundling (LLU)
.
The country liberalised the long distance market in 1998, organised LLU
trials with France Telecom
in January 2000 and established a legal framework for LLU
in early 2001, but in practice there was no real option for alternative operators to be profitable on the broadband access market until 2003-2004. France Telecom's tariffs and technical conditions then became progressively more attractive encouraging several alternative operators, including Free Telecom (Iliad Group)
and LDCOM, to invest massively in DSL
infrastructures. In 2004, LDCOM was renamed "Neuf Telecom" ("N9uf Telecom") and launched its first Triple Play
service on the consumer market using this type of access technology, which produced very strong growth.
Cegetel was amongst the first participants of LLU trials in January 2000. However, Cegetel subsequently slowed or froze its investments in LLU, claiming the market and regulatory conditions in France were not acceptable. It chose to offer DSL services by means of the France Telecom's wholesale offer. In a second stage it announced a major plan to invest EUR300 million in local-loop unbundling (LLU), but the decision was made probably too late. Wanadoo, the Internet subsidiary of France Telecom
, Free Telecom (Iliad Group)
and LDCOM gained a considerable head start and captured significant market shares.
In October 2006, Neuf Cegetel announced that French competition authorities approved the acquisition of AOL
France’s internet access business (505,000 customers).
To aid its expansion program and accelerate the roll-out of broadband services, an initial public offering (IPO)
of its stock was successfully performed on the French Euronext
exchange in October 2006. The offering was oversubscribed nearly 15 times.
In July 2007, Neuf Cegetel announced that French competition authorities approved the acquisition of T-Online
France (aka "Club Internet")
At the end of September 2007, the group had 3.12 million broadband-Internet clients, up 56 percent from two million a year earlier.
, Free Telecom (Iliad Group)
, Noos Numericable
and Neuf Cegetel announced plans to roll out FTTH services in major population centers in France. To make such investments pay off, it was required to achieve scale i.e. to have a large number of customers. Neuf Cegetel acquired several ADSL-based Triple Play
operators (see previous section) to increase its market share and became the second-largest broadband operator in France after France Telecom (Orange)
.
In January 2007, Neuf Cegetel purchased Mediafibre (3,000 customers), a small regional fiber-based Triple Play
operator in Pau, southwest France. This operator was in charge of a famous municipal FTTH project called "Pau Broadbandcity" and therefore brought a strong expertise in this area to Neuf Cegetel.
In February 2007, Neuf Cegetel took control of Erenis, an alternate services provider which has been laying fiber in Paris
since 2003 and has more than 10,000 customers.
In April 2007, Neuf Cegetel announced that its FTTH-based Triple Play
offer was available to 55,000 households in Paris, with internet access at speeds up to 50-Mbit/s for a head-line price of €29.90 ($40.75) per month. The services provider announced plans to invest €300 million ($408 million) in 2007, 2008 and 2009 to pass 1 million homes in the French capital and other cities, and sign up 250,000 customers..
LD Collectivités, a Neuf Cegetel subsidiary specialised in local government networks, was selected for the first public service contract to develop a FTTH network in the Paris region.
services in the department of Haut Rhin and launched a WiMax
network in the department of Loiret
. Through their joint venture SHD, SFR
and Neuf Cegetel have announced plans to roll-out a WiMax network in the region of Île-de-France
.
and Bouygues Telecom
, which are also the only ones to have a 3G
license. In December 2006, the Court of Appeal approved the initial decision of the “Conseil de la Concurrence” (an administrative authority in charge of competition’s regulation) and confirmed FT (Orange)
, SFR
and Bouygues Telecom
would have to pay respectively 256, 220 and 58 million euros due to collusion. The National Regulatory Authority
Arcep reopened the 3G
beauty contest for a fourth license, but rejected the sole bid for the license from fixed broadband access provider Free Telecom (Iliad Group)
, because it failed to meet the required financial conditions (the same for new entrants and for the 3 incumbents). In November 2007, the French Senate approved an amendment to the country's budget bill for 2008 that allows the government to change the financial conditions for assigning the fourth license. In December 2007, Vivendi
's SFR
mobile phone division, which owns 40.5 percent of Neuf Cegetel, has offered to buy the rest for €4.5 billion. The goal is to challenge France Telecom
in the market for combined fixed-line, internet and cellphone services and create "the biggest, strongest non-incumbent in Europe" according to the group's statement The acquisition was completed on 24 June 2008.
to Telecom Italia
("9 Telecom") in 1998. "9 Telecom" was subsequently acquired by LDCOM as indicated earlier.
The prefix code "9" is dialled call by call by switched voice customers before the destination number when they place calls from a different access network (France Telecom) and when they want to select Neuf Cegetel as the preferred local or long distance operator. Because customers tend to forget to dial the prefix code, "9" was reminded in most advertisements and, to be more effective, integrated in the brand name and logo as well ("9 Telecom", "N9uf Telecom", "N9uf Cegetel"). "Neuf" also means "brand new".
Note: Today "Indirect access" is a marginal and declining business in France.
On this segment, the group competes primarily with:
, Neuf Cegetel has also an important activity on the enterprise segment following the acquisition of Siris and Cegetel. According to the 2007 annual report, the Enterprises division generated revenues of €1.039 billion or 31% of the Group’s total revenues (€3.348 billion), mainly with the following products:
At the end of December 2007, 173,000 business access links were connected to Neuf Cegetel’s network, representing an increase of 34,000 on annual basis. The "9office" VoIP offer in particular accounted for close to 40% of new data links during the 4th quarter 2007.
On this segment, the group competes primarily with:
wholesale, IP peering, PSTN
interconnect & call termination, hosting etc. This historical activity has experienced a decline linked to the discontinuation of wholesale sales to AOL and Club Internet (following the Group’s acquisition of these ISPs), the contraction in the traditional switched voice business, the decline of dial up Internet business and the end of GSM gateways business.
On this segment, the group competes primarily with France Telecom
, Completel and Telecom Italia
.
Mobile virtual network operator
A mobile virtual network operator is a company that provides mobile phone services but does not have its own licensed frequency allocation of radio spectrum, nor does it necessarily have all of the infrastructure required to provide mobile telephone service...
(MVNO) offering different services to consumers, enterprises and wholesale customers, ranking number two in the country (based on annual revenues). It was legally established in 2005 following the completion of the merger between Neuf Telecom (formerly known as LDCOM) and Cegetel. As of June 2008, the company is a wholly owned subsidiary
Subsidiary
A subsidiary company, subsidiary, or daughter company is a company that is completely or partly owned and wholly controlled by another company that owns more than half of the subsidiary's stock. The subsidiary can be a company, corporation, or limited liability company. In some cases it is a...
of SFR
SFR
SFR is a French mobile phone company. It has over 20 million customers, and provides over 4.6 million households with high-speed internet access...
.
Origins
LDCOM (future Neuf Telecom) was established with telecom deregulation in 1998 by the Louis Dreyfus GroupLouis Dreyfus Group
Louis Dreyfus Group is a diversified French private company that is involved in agriculture and energy commodities...
, "with a mission to rapidly gain access to a network, penetrate into the center of the major urban areas, provide means of interconnection with the motorway networks, and offer the possibility of competitive long-distance links". The group was originally providing services to other operators and internet services providers (national and metro fiber networks, colocation and hosting centers...). In other words, it was present on the wholesale market only. LDCOM was the owner of the network. Its main subsidiary, LD Cable, was in charge of carrying out the engineering work, obtaining the necessary permits for the construction works, supplying the fiber optic cables, laying optical cables using rights of way beside waterways, through pipelines and along transport infrastructure, negotiating with local and regional authorities in France.
Cegetel was a separate company established in 1996 as a subsidiary of "Groupe SFR Cegetel", which combined a fixed line operator "Cegetel" and a wireless operator "SFR" established in 1987. Cegetel was France's second fixed-line operator, competing directly with France Telecom
France Télécom
France Telecom S.A. is the main telecommunications company in France, the third-largest in Europe and one of the largest in the world. It currently employs about 180,000 people and has 192.7 million customers worldwide . In 2010 the group had revenue of €45.5 billion...
. It had about 2,000 employees and was using the network operated by "Telecom Development" (TD), a joint venture of Cegetel and the French railways, SNCF
SNCF
The SNCF , is France's national state-owned railway company. SNCF operates the country's national rail services, including the TGV, France's high-speed rail network...
. It therefore had extensive network coverage in France: 32,000 kilometers of fiber along France's railway lines and highways, fiber loops in metropolitan centers, points of interconnection at the local exchange level etc.
LDCOM was a smaller company, but it was an opportunistic and fast mover player. Cegetel had good service, recognized brand especially on the enterprise and wholesale segments (over 16,000 corporate clients), but was probably more conservative and therefore was moving at a much slower pace.
Market consolidator in France
Unlike many (80+) loss-making alternative licensed operators in France, LDCOM was not affected by the so-called telecoms crash in March 2000, due to a cautious and pragmatic overall approach. From 2000 to 2003, the French telecom services market went through a major consolidation. LDCOM acquired inexpensively several alternate operators, including:- Kertel (January 2001 - part of its customers and assets)
- Fortel (Squadran) (May 2001)
- Kaptech (December 2001)
- BelgacomBelgacomThe Belgacom Group is the largest telecommunications company in Belgium, headquartered in Brussels. Belgacom Group is primarily state owned, with the Belgian state holding 53.3% + 1 share...
France (March 2002) - FirstMark France (May 2002)
- 9 Telecom, from Telecom ItaliaTelecom ItaliaTelecom Italia is the largest Italian telecommunications company, also active in the media and manufacturing industries. Now a private concern listed on the Borsa Italiana, it was founded in 1994 by the merger of several state-owned telecommunications companies, the most important of which was...
(August 2002) - Ventelo France (October 2002)
- Siris, France's third largest operator, from Deutsche TelekomDeutsche TelekomDeutsche Telekom AG is a telecommunications company headquartered in Bonn, Germany. It is the largest telecommunications company in Europe....
(May 2003)
Thanks to these acquisitions, in 2003 LDCOM became a major competitor (#3) to France Telecom, across all segments: wholesale, enterprise, residential.
In 2003, Cegetel merged with "Telecom Development" (TD) and was 65 percent owned by Groupe SFR Cegetel and 35 percent by the French railways, SNCF
SNCF
The SNCF , is France's national state-owned railway company. SNCF operates the country's national rail services, including the TGV, France's high-speed rail network...
. Groupe SFR Cegetel was owned 56 percent by Vivendi Universal and 44 percent by Vodafone
Vodafone
Vodafone Group Plc is a global telecommunications company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest mobile telecommunications company measured by revenues and the world's second-largest measured by subscribers , with around 341 million proportionate subscribers as of...
.
Mass market DSL deployment
In contrast with the North American market, DSL is the dominant broadband access technology in France, partly because the penetration of cable systems has been historically relatively low, the incumbent operator France Telecom and the domestic telecom vendor AlcatelAlcatel
Alcatel Mobile Phones is a brand of mobile handsets. It was established in 2004 as a joint venture between Alcatel-Lucent of France and TCL Communication of China....
decided in the late 1990s that ADSL was a strategic decision to make, and also because a favorable regulatory environment was subsequently offered to alternative operators for the implementation of Local Loop Unbundling (LLU)
Local loop unbundling
Local loop unbundling is the regulatory process of allowing multiple telecommunications operators to use connections from the telephone exchange to the customer's premises...
.
The country liberalised the long distance market in 1998, organised LLU
Local loop unbundling
Local loop unbundling is the regulatory process of allowing multiple telecommunications operators to use connections from the telephone exchange to the customer's premises...
trials with France Telecom
France Télécom
France Telecom S.A. is the main telecommunications company in France, the third-largest in Europe and one of the largest in the world. It currently employs about 180,000 people and has 192.7 million customers worldwide . In 2010 the group had revenue of €45.5 billion...
in January 2000 and established a legal framework for LLU
Local loop unbundling
Local loop unbundling is the regulatory process of allowing multiple telecommunications operators to use connections from the telephone exchange to the customer's premises...
in early 2001, but in practice there was no real option for alternative operators to be profitable on the broadband access market until 2003-2004. France Telecom's tariffs and technical conditions then became progressively more attractive encouraging several alternative operators, including Free Telecom (Iliad Group)
Free (French ISP)
Free is a French ISP, which is a subsidiary of Iliad. It operates in France.It was the first company to offer a "triple play" service in France, through its self-produced singular Freebox set-top box...
and LDCOM, to invest massively in DSL
Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line
Asymmetric digital subscriber line is a type of digital subscriber line technology, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over copper telephone lines than a conventional voiceband modem can provide. It does this by utilizing frequencies that are not used by a voice...
infrastructures. In 2004, LDCOM was renamed "Neuf Telecom" ("N9uf Telecom") and launched its first Triple Play
Triple play (telecommunications)
In telecommunications, triple play service is a marketing term for the provisioning of two bandwidth-intensive services, high-speed Internet access and television, and a less bandwidth-demanding service, telephone, over a single broadband connection. Triple play focuses on a combined business...
service on the consumer market using this type of access technology, which produced very strong growth.
Cegetel was amongst the first participants of LLU trials in January 2000. However, Cegetel subsequently slowed or froze its investments in LLU, claiming the market and regulatory conditions in France were not acceptable. It chose to offer DSL services by means of the France Telecom's wholesale offer. In a second stage it announced a major plan to invest EUR300 million in local-loop unbundling (LLU), but the decision was made probably too late. Wanadoo, the Internet subsidiary of France Telecom
France Télécom
France Telecom S.A. is the main telecommunications company in France, the third-largest in Europe and one of the largest in the world. It currently employs about 180,000 people and has 192.7 million customers worldwide . In 2010 the group had revenue of €45.5 billion...
, Free Telecom (Iliad Group)
Free (French ISP)
Free is a French ISP, which is a subsidiary of Iliad. It operates in France.It was the first company to offer a "triple play" service in France, through its self-produced singular Freebox set-top box...
and LDCOM gained a considerable head start and captured significant market shares.
New steps in the consolidation of the French market and IPO
Cegetel's revenues on the traditional services market were declining and the group arrived late on the DSL market. In August 2005, Neuf Telecom and its rival Cegetel merged to create Neuf Cegetel. It was the signal for further consolidation among operators and ISPs in France.In October 2006, Neuf Cegetel announced that French competition authorities approved the acquisition of AOL
AOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
France’s internet access business (505,000 customers).
To aid its expansion program and accelerate the roll-out of broadband services, an initial public offering (IPO)
Initial public offering
An initial public offering or stock market launch, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. It can be used by either small or large companies to raise expansion capital and become publicly traded enterprises...
of its stock was successfully performed on the French Euronext
Euronext
Euronext N.V. is a pan-European stock exchange based in Amsterdam and with subsidiaries in Belgium, France, Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom. In addition to equities and derivatives markets, the Euronext group provides clearing and information services...
exchange in October 2006. The offering was oversubscribed nearly 15 times.
In July 2007, Neuf Cegetel announced that French competition authorities approved the acquisition of T-Online
T-Online
T-Online, a former subsidiary and now business unit of Deutsche Telekom, is the biggest internet service provider in Germany. It evolved out of the proprietary German Bildschirmtext information service in 1995...
France (aka "Club Internet")
At the end of September 2007, the group had 3.12 million broadband-Internet clients, up 56 percent from two million a year earlier.
Major FTTH investments
In 2006-2007, several services providers including France Telecom (Orange)France Télécom
France Telecom S.A. is the main telecommunications company in France, the third-largest in Europe and one of the largest in the world. It currently employs about 180,000 people and has 192.7 million customers worldwide . In 2010 the group had revenue of €45.5 billion...
, Free Telecom (Iliad Group)
Free (French ISP)
Free is a French ISP, which is a subsidiary of Iliad. It operates in France.It was the first company to offer a "triple play" service in France, through its self-produced singular Freebox set-top box...
, Noos Numericable
Numericable
Numericable is a British-American-Luxembourgian owned cable television operator operating in France, Belgium and Luxembourg, currently proposing standard quadruple-play services .- History :...
and Neuf Cegetel announced plans to roll out FTTH services in major population centers in France. To make such investments pay off, it was required to achieve scale i.e. to have a large number of customers. Neuf Cegetel acquired several ADSL-based Triple Play
Triple play (telecommunications)
In telecommunications, triple play service is a marketing term for the provisioning of two bandwidth-intensive services, high-speed Internet access and television, and a less bandwidth-demanding service, telephone, over a single broadband connection. Triple play focuses on a combined business...
operators (see previous section) to increase its market share and became the second-largest broadband operator in France after France Telecom (Orange)
France Télécom
France Telecom S.A. is the main telecommunications company in France, the third-largest in Europe and one of the largest in the world. It currently employs about 180,000 people and has 192.7 million customers worldwide . In 2010 the group had revenue of €45.5 billion...
.
In January 2007, Neuf Cegetel purchased Mediafibre (3,000 customers), a small regional fiber-based Triple Play
Triple play (telecommunications)
In telecommunications, triple play service is a marketing term for the provisioning of two bandwidth-intensive services, high-speed Internet access and television, and a less bandwidth-demanding service, telephone, over a single broadband connection. Triple play focuses on a combined business...
operator in Pau, southwest France. This operator was in charge of a famous municipal FTTH project called "Pau Broadbandcity" and therefore brought a strong expertise in this area to Neuf Cegetel.
In February 2007, Neuf Cegetel took control of Erenis, an alternate services provider which has been laying fiber in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
since 2003 and has more than 10,000 customers.
In April 2007, Neuf Cegetel announced that its FTTH-based Triple Play
Triple play (telecommunications)
In telecommunications, triple play service is a marketing term for the provisioning of two bandwidth-intensive services, high-speed Internet access and television, and a less bandwidth-demanding service, telephone, over a single broadband connection. Triple play focuses on a combined business...
offer was available to 55,000 households in Paris, with internet access at speeds up to 50-Mbit/s for a head-line price of €29.90 ($40.75) per month. The services provider announced plans to invest €300 million ($408 million) in 2007, 2008 and 2009 to pass 1 million homes in the French capital and other cities, and sign up 250,000 customers..
LD Collectivités, a Neuf Cegetel subsidiary specialised in local government networks, was selected for the first public service contract to develop a FTTH network in the Paris region.
Exploring the possibilities that WiMax can offer
Its subsidiary LD Collectivités announced, in partnership with HDDR, the roll-out of WiMaxWiMAX
WiMAX is a communication technology for wirelessly delivering high-speed Internet service to large geographical areas. The 2005 WiMAX revision provided bit rates up to 40 Mbit/s with the 2011 update up to 1 Gbit/s for fixed stations...
services in the department of Haut Rhin and launched a WiMax
WiMAX
WiMAX is a communication technology for wirelessly delivering high-speed Internet service to large geographical areas. The 2005 WiMAX revision provided bit rates up to 40 Mbit/s with the 2011 update up to 1 Gbit/s for fixed stations...
network in the department of Loiret
Loiret
Loiret is a department in north-central FranceThe department is named after the river Loiret, a tributary of the Loire. The Loiret is located wholly within the department.- History :...
. Through their joint venture SHD, SFR
SFR
SFR is a French mobile phone company. It has over 20 million customers, and provides over 4.6 million households with high-speed internet access...
and Neuf Cegetel have announced plans to roll-out a WiMax network in the region of Île-de-France
Île-de-France (région)
Île-de-France is the wealthiest and most populated of the twenty-two administrative regions of France, composed mostly of the Paris metropolitan area....
.
Fixed mobile convergence and threat on the 3G market
Unlike other European countries which have 4 or 5 mobile operators, France has three mobile operators only: Orange, SFRSFR
SFR is a French mobile phone company. It has over 20 million customers, and provides over 4.6 million households with high-speed internet access...
and Bouygues Telecom
Bouygues Télécom (company)
Bouygues Telecom is a French mobile phone and Internet service provider company, part of the Bouygues group. Its headquarters, designed by Arquitectonica, are located at the border of Paris and Issy-les-Moulineaux near the River Seine....
, which are also the only ones to have a 3G
3G
3G or 3rd generation mobile telecommunications is a generation of standards for mobile phones and mobile telecommunication services fulfilling the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 specifications by the International Telecommunication Union...
license. In December 2006, the Court of Appeal approved the initial decision of the “Conseil de la Concurrence” (an administrative authority in charge of competition’s regulation) and confirmed FT (Orange)
France Télécom
France Telecom S.A. is the main telecommunications company in France, the third-largest in Europe and one of the largest in the world. It currently employs about 180,000 people and has 192.7 million customers worldwide . In 2010 the group had revenue of €45.5 billion...
, SFR
SFR
SFR is a French mobile phone company. It has over 20 million customers, and provides over 4.6 million households with high-speed internet access...
and Bouygues Telecom
Bouygues Telecom
Bouygues Telecom is a French mobile phone and Internet service provider company, part of the Bouygues group. Its headquarters, designed by Arquitectonica, are located at the border of Paris and Issy-les-Moulineaux near the River Seine....
would have to pay respectively 256, 220 and 58 million euros due to collusion. The National Regulatory Authority
Regulatory Authority
A regulatory agency is a public authority or government agency responsible for exercising autonomous authority over some area of human activity in a regulatory or supervisory capacity...
Arcep reopened the 3G
3G
3G or 3rd generation mobile telecommunications is a generation of standards for mobile phones and mobile telecommunication services fulfilling the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 specifications by the International Telecommunication Union...
beauty contest for a fourth license, but rejected the sole bid for the license from fixed broadband access provider Free Telecom (Iliad Group)
Free (French ISP)
Free is a French ISP, which is a subsidiary of Iliad. It operates in France.It was the first company to offer a "triple play" service in France, through its self-produced singular Freebox set-top box...
, because it failed to meet the required financial conditions (the same for new entrants and for the 3 incumbents). In November 2007, the French Senate approved an amendment to the country's budget bill for 2008 that allows the government to change the financial conditions for assigning the fourth license. In December 2007, Vivendi
Vivendi
Vivendi SA is a French international media conglomerate with activities in music, television and film, publishing, telecommunications, the Internet, and video games. It is headquartered in Paris.- History :...
's SFR
SFR
SFR is a French mobile phone company. It has over 20 million customers, and provides over 4.6 million households with high-speed internet access...
mobile phone division, which owns 40.5 percent of Neuf Cegetel, has offered to buy the rest for €4.5 billion. The goal is to challenge France Telecom
France Télécom
France Telecom S.A. is the main telecommunications company in France, the third-largest in Europe and one of the largest in the world. It currently employs about 180,000 people and has 192.7 million customers worldwide . In 2010 the group had revenue of €45.5 billion...
in the market for combined fixed-line, internet and cellphone services and create "the biggest, strongest non-incumbent in Europe" according to the group's statement The acquisition was completed on 24 June 2008.
About the name "Neuf"
"Neuf" in French is the cardinal number "Nine". It is also the "indirect access" prefix code granted originally by the National Regulatory AuthorityRegulatory Authority
A regulatory agency is a public authority or government agency responsible for exercising autonomous authority over some area of human activity in a regulatory or supervisory capacity...
to Telecom Italia
Telecom Italia
Telecom Italia is the largest Italian telecommunications company, also active in the media and manufacturing industries. Now a private concern listed on the Borsa Italiana, it was founded in 1994 by the merger of several state-owned telecommunications companies, the most important of which was...
("9 Telecom") in 1998. "9 Telecom" was subsequently acquired by LDCOM as indicated earlier.
The prefix code "9" is dialled call by call by switched voice customers before the destination number when they place calls from a different access network (France Telecom) and when they want to select Neuf Cegetel as the preferred local or long distance operator. Because customers tend to forget to dial the prefix code, "9" was reminded in most advertisements and, to be more effective, integrated in the brand name and logo as well ("9 Telecom", "N9uf Telecom", "N9uf Cegetel"). "Neuf" also means "brand new".
Note: Today "Indirect access" is a marginal and declining business in France.
Residential segment
According to the 2007 annual report, the "Mass Market division" generated revenues of €1.437 billion or 42% of the Group’s total revenues (€3.348 billion), mainly with the following products:- "Neuf Box": Via different broadband access technologies and a multiservice CPECustomer-premises equipmentCustomer-premises equipment or customer-provided equipment is any terminal and associated equipment located at a subscriber's premises and connected with a carrier's telecommunication channel at the demarcation point...
(the so called "Neuf box"), Neuf Cegetel provides its customers in the larger urban areas of France with high speed internet access (up to 20 Mbit/s download with ADSL, up to 50-Mbit/s with FTTH) and landline phone services. This type of offer enables French subscribers to fully cut out France TelecomFrance TélécomFrance Telecom S.A. is the main telecommunications company in France, the third-largest in Europe and one of the largest in the world. It currently employs about 180,000 people and has 192.7 million customers worldwide . In 2010 the group had revenue of €45.5 billion...
traditional phone services by using voice over broadband (VoIP), and pushed the incumbent operator to launch similar voice over broadband services in a defensive manner. The headline price is 29€90. With 3,224,000 broadband clients on December 31 2007, Neuf Cegetel is ranking number two in the country and has expanded its client base by over one million subscribers in 2007. Its broadband market share is close to 21%, up from 17% a year ago. - "Neuf TV": The "Neuf Box" can be connected to a separate HD decoder using HomePlug powerline bridges, to provide various Digital TelevisionDigital televisionDigital television is the transmission of audio and video by digital signals, in contrast to the analog signals used by analog TV...
packages (over 200 channels available). Neuf Cegetel has more than 750,000 TV subscribers at year-end 2007, and is ranked #4 amongst the world's leading telco TV players by number of subscribers - "Neuf Mobile": Neuf Cegetel provides its customers with GSM telephone services through an MVNOMobile virtual network operatorA mobile virtual network operator is a company that provides mobile phone services but does not have its own licensed frequency allocation of radio spectrum, nor does it necessarily have all of the infrastructure required to provide mobile telephone service...
agreement with SFRSFRSFR is a French mobile phone company. It has over 20 million customers, and provides over 4.6 million households with high-speed internet access...
. These are often coupled with one of the "Twin" packages, a SIPSession Initiation ProtocolThe Session Initiation Protocol is an IETF-defined signaling protocol widely used for controlling communication sessions such as voice and video calls over Internet Protocol . The protocol can be used for creating, modifying and terminating two-party or multiparty sessions...
-based fixed mobile convergence solution based on a dual-mode Wi-FiWi-FiWi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20...
/GSM handset which offers unified voice, messaging and multimedia communications services for home use or for working remotely via high-speed broadband Internet connections. The TWIN phone connects to a "Neuf box" Wi-FiWi-FiWi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20...
access point and enables calls to be made at the same price as from a landline phone. Users receive a consolidated phone bill as a result. The TWIN phone also enables users access to their services using 500,000+ hot spots operated by Neuf Cegetel's partners (e.g. FON, Adaël, SNCF rail stations, free-hotspot.com...). During the final quarter of 2007, Neuf Cegetel claimed approximately 300,000 "Neuf Mobile" subscribers. Twin packages accounted for over 30% of the growth in the number of "Neuf Mobile" contracts sold.
On this segment, the group competes primarily with:
- Fixed services: France TelecomFrance TélécomFrance Telecom S.A. is the main telecommunications company in France, the third-largest in Europe and one of the largest in the world. It currently employs about 180,000 people and has 192.7 million customers worldwide . In 2010 the group had revenue of €45.5 billion...
(Orange), Free (Iliad Group)Free (French ISP)Free is a French ISP, which is a subsidiary of Iliad. It operates in France.It was the first company to offer a "triple play" service in France, through its self-produced singular Freebox set-top box...
, Alice (Telecom ItaliaTelecom ItaliaTelecom Italia is the largest Italian telecommunications company, also active in the media and manufacturing industries. Now a private concern listed on the Borsa Italiana, it was founded in 1994 by the merger of several state-owned telecommunications companies, the most important of which was...
) and NumericableNumericableNumericable is a British-American-Luxembourgian owned cable television operator operating in France, Belgium and Luxembourg, currently proposing standard quadruple-play services .- History :...
. - Mobile services: France TelecomFrance TélécomFrance Telecom S.A. is the main telecommunications company in France, the third-largest in Europe and one of the largest in the world. It currently employs about 180,000 people and has 192.7 million customers worldwide . In 2010 the group had revenue of €45.5 billion...
(Orange) and Bouygues TelecomBouygues TelecomBouygues Telecom is a French mobile phone and Internet service provider company, part of the Bouygues group. Its headquarters, designed by Arquitectonica, are located at the border of Paris and Issy-les-Moulineaux near the River Seine....
Enterprises segment
In contrast with residential pure players like Free (Iliad Group)Free (French ISP)
Free is a French ISP, which is a subsidiary of Iliad. It operates in France.It was the first company to offer a "triple play" service in France, through its self-produced singular Freebox set-top box...
, Neuf Cegetel has also an important activity on the enterprise segment following the acquisition of Siris and Cegetel. According to the 2007 annual report, the Enterprises division generated revenues of €1.039 billion or 31% of the Group’s total revenues (€3.348 billion), mainly with the following products:
- IP services: broadband internet access, IP VPNVirtual private networkA virtual private network is a network that uses primarily public telecommunication infrastructure, such as the Internet, to provide remote offices or traveling users access to a central organizational network....
("9 Ipnet"). - "9Office": a multiservice offer targeting the SMBSmall and medium enterpriseSmall and medium enterprises or small and medium-sized enterprises are companies whose headcount or turnover falls below certain limits.The abbreviation "SME" occurs commonly...
(20-250 employees) & multi-site enterprise segments based on a VoIP-enabled multiservice router (OneAccess). On the customer's side, various data services are delivered as well as ISDNIntegrated Services Digital NetworkIntegrated Services Digital Network is a set of communications standards for simultaneous digital transmission of voice, video, data, and other network services over the traditional circuits of the public switched telephone network...
PRIPrimary rate interfaceThe Primary Rate Interface is a standardized telecommunications service level within the Integrated Services Digital Network specification for carrying multiple DS0 voice and data transmissions between a network and a user....
/BRIBasic rate interfaceBasic Rate Interface is an Integrated Services Digital Network configuration intended primarily for use in subscriber lines similar to those that have long been used for plain old telephone service...
digital interfaces to connect the customer's PBX. On the WANWide area networkA wide area network is a telecommunication network that covers a broad area . Business and government entities utilize WANs to relay data among employees, clients, buyers, and suppliers from various geographical locations...
side it is connected to the Neuf Cegetel network by means of an ADSLAsymmetric Digital Subscriber LineAsymmetric digital subscriber line is a type of digital subscriber line technology, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over copper telephone lines than a conventional voiceband modem can provide. It does this by utilizing frequencies that are not used by a voice...
/G.SHDSL interface. - "9office Mobile": Neuf Cegetel provides its customers with GSM telephone services through an MVNOMobile virtual network operatorA mobile virtual network operator is a company that provides mobile phone services but does not have its own licensed frequency allocation of radio spectrum, nor does it necessarily have all of the infrastructure required to provide mobile telephone service...
agreement with SFRSFRSFR is a French mobile phone company. It has over 20 million customers, and provides over 4.6 million households with high-speed internet access...
. - "9Pass": a multiservice offer targeting the small business segment (3-20 employees) based on a CPECustomer-premises equipmentCustomer-premises equipment or customer-provided equipment is any terminal and associated equipment located at a subscriber's premises and connected with a carrier's telecommunication channel at the demarcation point...
developed in house using Intel and MicrosoftMicrosoftMicrosoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
technologies. The CPECustomer-premises equipmentCustomer-premises equipment or customer-provided equipment is any terminal and associated equipment located at a subscriber's premises and connected with a carrier's telecommunication channel at the demarcation point...
delivers basic IP PBX voice features, LANLocal area networkA local area network is a computer network that interconnects computers in a limited area such as a home, school, computer laboratory, or office building...
and Internet services. It is managed by Neuf Cegetel or a partner. - "9 Ipnet ToIP": a managed IP PBX offer coupled with IP VPNVirtual private networkA virtual private network is a network that uses primarily public telecommunication infrastructure, such as the Internet, to provide remote offices or traveling users access to a central organizational network....
and SIPSession Initiation ProtocolThe Session Initiation Protocol is an IETF-defined signaling protocol widely used for controlling communication sessions such as voice and video calls over Internet Protocol . The protocol can be used for creating, modifying and terminating two-party or multiparty sessions...
trunking services targeting the government and large enterprise segments. - Connectivity and legacy voice services: Leased lines, Indirect access, direct access, special numbers...
At the end of December 2007, 173,000 business access links were connected to Neuf Cegetel’s network, representing an increase of 34,000 on annual basis. The "9office" VoIP offer in particular accounted for close to 40% of new data links during the 4th quarter 2007.
On this segment, the group competes primarily with:
- Fixed services: Orange Business Services, Completel, COLT Telecom GroupCOLT Telecom GroupColt Technology Services is a telecommunications, IT managed services and data centre services company providing services to city-based large enterprise, small and midsize business and wholesale carriers throughout 21 countries in Europe...
, Verizon BusinessVerizon BusinessVerizon Business is one of three operating units of Verizon Communications It was created in 2006 when Verizon Communications closed on its merger with MCI, Inc..Verizon Business has over 30,000 employees with 321 offices in 75 countries...
and BTBT GroupBT Group plc is a global telecommunications services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is one of the largest telecommunications services companies in the world and has operations in more than 170 countries. Through its BT Global Services division it is a major supplier of...
. - Mobile services: France TelecomFrance TélécomFrance Telecom S.A. is the main telecommunications company in France, the third-largest in Europe and one of the largest in the world. It currently employs about 180,000 people and has 192.7 million customers worldwide . In 2010 the group had revenue of €45.5 billion...
(Orange) and Bouygues TelecomBouygues TelecomBouygues Telecom is a French mobile phone and Internet service provider company, part of the Bouygues group. Its headquarters, designed by Arquitectonica, are located at the border of Paris and Issy-les-Moulineaux near the River Seine....
Wholesale segment
According to the 2007 annual report, the wholesale division generated revenues of €871 millions or 26% of the Group’s total revenues (€3.348 billion), mainly with the following products proposed to other services providers and ISPs: ADSLAsymmetric Digital Subscriber Line
Asymmetric digital subscriber line is a type of digital subscriber line technology, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over copper telephone lines than a conventional voiceband modem can provide. It does this by utilizing frequencies that are not used by a voice...
wholesale, IP peering, PSTN
Public switched telephone network
The public switched telephone network is the network of the world's public circuit-switched telephone networks. It consists of telephone lines, fiber optic cables, microwave transmission links, cellular networks, communications satellites, and undersea telephone cables, all inter-connected by...
interconnect & call termination, hosting etc. This historical activity has experienced a decline linked to the discontinuation of wholesale sales to AOL and Club Internet (following the Group’s acquisition of these ISPs), the contraction in the traditional switched voice business, the decline of dial up Internet business and the end of GSM gateways business.
On this segment, the group competes primarily with France Telecom
France Télécom
France Telecom S.A. is the main telecommunications company in France, the third-largest in Europe and one of the largest in the world. It currently employs about 180,000 people and has 192.7 million customers worldwide . In 2010 the group had revenue of €45.5 billion...
, Completel and Telecom Italia
Telecom Italia
Telecom Italia is the largest Italian telecommunications company, also active in the media and manufacturing industries. Now a private concern listed on the Borsa Italiana, it was founded in 1994 by the merger of several state-owned telecommunications companies, the most important of which was...
.