How would you describe the telecom sector?
The president told me the Presidency of ARCEP for a term of six years. My horizon, so this is the project of ARCEP 2020. Today we are at the end of a cycle, that started in the 90s with the opening of telecom competition. It allowed the industrialization of this market and set up regulatory tools that consumers can enjoy a truly competitive sector. France now has four major operators, with strong integration, both in the fixed and mobile, offering quality supply at competitive prices. The investment conditions in the sector are there. But all is not over. It should also remove some misunderstandings to project into a new dynamic, new challenges, this new horizon of 2020. For this, I set three requirements, as a kind of motto: competitiveness, accessibility, neutrality.
What does that mean?
Competitiveness, this means that we must stop opposing competition concern, legitimate, good health of operators. Regulation is a supply-side policy. It must be good for industry players and consumers. France needs of a competitive telecoms sector, operators deploying networks throughout the territory as far as possible, and at acceptable prices. Competition remains the main driver of this competitiveness, it is an engine, an incentive. We do not try to have several operators to look pretty, but to ensure the dynamics of a vital sector! Accessibility must be at the heart of this dynamic. These telecoms infrastructure is essential to the functioning of the economy and the digital society. It must, as such, recognize the expectations of all citizens, territories and their elected representatives. And it is healthy that they exercise vigilance, both to the regulator and operators. This is not a trivial burden on the shoulders of operators: for they are expected to offer digital for all and, as such, it may be some empathy with them.
Net neutrality is one of your priority projects?
Yes I Am. Internet is not a network like the others. It has become a key platform for citizens, businesses, the economy, and this will be increasingly on the horizon of 2020. We must accept that there are special rules on the Internet. ARCEP, the regulator networks, must be the guarantor of these rules, especially when it comes interconnections that are at the heart of its powers. The web giants have nothing in common with the negotiating capacity of the smaller players. This is dangerous; we must act ... To guarantee the neutrality of the Internet is also a precaution for the future. There is much talk of the video, which certainly plays an important role today, but nobody knows what will look like tomorrow's Internet. We see the birth and development every day new uses (Internet of Things, cloud, etc.). In short, let the game open.
What can the ARCEP against the giants of the web?
Guardian of the long-term, ARCEP must be in anticipation, thinking to adapt now the rules in relation to the increasing role of the Internet GAFA operation. Europe must take up the issue, both at the level of regulators at more political level of the Commission or Parliament. Today, the regulation has reached an exceptional degree of sophistication for telecom operators in Europe. In front of the net giants impose without any control their own rules through "policies" sometimes very formative for the digital economy. This is not acceptable. My personal opinion is that regulating the net giants has become indispensable. I note that the Government is aware, and it carries this message in Brussels. ARCEP can and should be a force of proposal on these topics.
The market for connected devices is expected to expand strongly. ARCEP she has the care?
The regulator must obviously be on the connected objects. Today, we think spontaneously smartphones or tablets, but in 2020, are well connected objects that will be the majority: home automation, smart cities, connected cars, innovative textiles, etc. From the perspective of the networks, the ability to transmit all objects on all connected signals is a challenge. ARCEP has to make to the reflections of its expertise and Eve, while the part of a broader issue, that of sovereignty. I wish our prospective work focuses primarily on this subject, which is a vital matter where dialogue, exchange and cooperation with all of the digital ecosystem and institutions are needed.
Another challenge corporate digital transformation, what role can play ARCEP?
Today, cultural industries, hotels, taxis ... all sectors of the economy are upset by digital. This does not stop. We are concerned about these issues because the first digital presence in businesses, is that telecom operators. Turn to 2020, is a change of perspective on telecoms in companies. It is envisaged in the first place through the prism of the operators, but look at it through the eyes of businesses themselves. That is to say, better understand their expectations and better calibrate the answers that the regulator can make.
You often say that ARCEP should be at the heart of digital Republic. But is this not contradict its independence?
On the contrary! ARCEP should be a regulator in the heart of the digital issues, a technical-economic regulator in the service of the entire digital. We can not think of telecoms as isolated, especially in 2020. Parliament, Government, local authorities, the Competition Authority, CSA, national frequency agency, CNIL: it is with all these stakeholders digital Republic ARCEP has to work. Whenever possible and useful, I hope that we put in place agreements with other actors.
Axelle Lemaire will shortly present example the Digital Agenda for our country, and ARCEP can and should contribute. This does not mean being the orders! ARCEP is an independent authority. It carries out its mission in full autonomy, with an obsession: the long term. ARCEP to move beyond individual interests and the dictatorship of the emergency. It is the role it must play in the digital Republic.
What is your view on the possible consolidation of the telecom market in France?
We do not ask a football referee to comment on the game field. Our job, ARCEP is to make the market as it is, by creating the right incentives. It is therefore necessary that the regulator has a panoramic view of the functioning of the sector. In this overall picture, there are of course issues like homelessness, sharing of networks or mobile access to high points.
More generally, what method do you use to ARCEP?
My values, these are a bit of those startups. First agility: the tone of a regulator must adapt to the market; then the collective: we are never more intelligent than when you are several; and finally, the spirit of leadership: ARCEP must know persuade and lead the various stakeholders. While respecting. I will refrain from passing judgment on the strategy of a particular operator. These are indeed great actors, often driven by great entrepreneurs who have succeeded extraordinary things in the last twenty years. This is also the strength of the French operators. The market is them, not us! Therefore, iI must also be aware of the game of actors, without necessarily being a hostage. The controller must be able to read in the soul of the operators. Finally, we must accept that the look policy is focused on the telecom and regulation. Access to telecommunication networks, fixed and mobile, is one of the first concerns of French in certain jurisdictions, before kindergartens or safety: never forget, and account for our actions