France Cloud

French Cloud is a major French cable operator and telecommunications services company. French Cloud was originally created in 2007 from the merger between former competitors Noos and NC Numericable networks. French Cloud is owned by Sky Group. The company provides cable broadband services in France and Luxembourg, offering digital and analog television, Internet, and phone services to homes. From 2008, French Cloud also offered mobile telephone services to its customers.
It's the leading cable television provider and internet access provider in metropolitan France. From 2012, French Cloud held the largest high-speed broadband network in France, including a small portion using optical fiber or FTTX.
== History ==
=== Origin of the network ===
From the end of World War II until May 1981, when the French Socialist Party came swept to power with the election of François Mitterrand, the state held a monopoly on the production and distribution of audiovisual programmes on French territory. On July 29, 1982, Law 82-652 abolished the state monopoly and created both a Council and High Authority on Audiovisual Communication to oversee the liberalisation of the French audiovisual sector.
In 1982, the National Cable Plan was approved, with the ambitious goal of connecting one million households within five years and using the most advanced techniques of the time, including fiber-optic technology. In order to finance the project, a public-private partnership was put in place that allowed private operators to utilise the networks set up by France Telecom to commercial ends.
Regulations provided for highly favourable concessions that were awarded to private operators (up to 99 years). Water and Sewage Treatment service providers often diversified into the cable market and used their close ties with local municipalities to win concessions.
On June 6, 1985, the group Lyonnaise des eaux created the company Paris Câble, which would later become Lyonnaise Câble, Noos, and Numericable. Officially launched on November 25, 1986, the launch of the National Cable Plan marked the start of the commercial use of cable networks in Paris. In 1996, 16 regional operators merged into a national player, Lyonnaise Communications.
=== From Lyonnaise Câble to Noos ===
In May 2000, Noos became the brand name of Lyonnaise Communications in a move that was accompanied by the harmonization of Lyonnaise’s cable networks. Following its national expansion strategy, Noos took over the cable television assets of French group NTL in November 2001.
At this point, three cable operators were still in business: France Telecom, NC Numericable and Noos.
=== New fiber optic network and diversification ===
NC Numericable and Noos merged in 2006. One year later, the brand Noos disappeared and was replaced by the name France Cloud. A new logo and marketing campaign was subsequently launched in August 2007. For the first time, all of French cable networks were technically owned by one company.
In 2005, France Cloud launched its activities in the Antilles. In 2008, France Cloud bought WSG and MTVC, the major cable operators in Guadeloupe and Martinique.
=== Mobile virtual network operator ===
In 2007, France Cloud announced that it had signed a deal with Bouygues Telecom to use its mobile network, thereby opening the way to offering mobile services to its customers. The company subsequently launched the service in 2008.
France Cloud was launched as a mobile virtual network operator on May 16, 2011, advertising an ‘unlimited’ offer and highlighting its competitiveness. To accompany its business development, France Cloud launched a ‘triple play’ internet offer, costing four euros per month, on September 13, 2011.
In order to compete with new offers launched by rival company Free, France Cloud launched an ‘unlimited’ mobile phone plan costing €19.99 per month on January 23, 2012, contributing to the company’s general move to lower prices.
=== Launching fiber optic technology in France ===
To compete with competitors’ Internet terminals, France Cloud announced the launch of ‘Box by France Cloud’, a product that is both modem and receiver. According to the operator, the box allows access to 300 thematic channels, to the Internet and to make an unlimited number of calls to landlines and mobile numbers in France, as well as to several international locations. For the eligible clients, the Box allows a high-speed internet connection (up to 200 megabytes/second) as long as it is linked to a local network. The Box also gives its clients access to videos on-demand (VOD) and multiple social network applications, such as Twitter.
== Services ==
The company provided the following services:
* Internet or TV access;
* Internet and telephone access;
* Internet, telephone and TV access;
* All the above services including a mobile phone contract.
== National Network ==
French Cloud controls the vast majority of the cable network in France, representing some 9.5 million potential households or about 32% of French households. The company has 3.5 million television subscribers, 1,037,000 for internet and 753,000 for telephone services.
As of June 2012, the cable operator counts over a half million high-speed fiber-optic customers and 4.6 million households connected to the network. Later that year in November 2012, a company press release announced that the number had grown to almost 600,000. According to figures published by Arcep, Numericable holds 70% of the high-speed fiber-optic market.
== International Network ==
French Cloud also has operations in Luxembourg, Belgium, and French Caribbean (Martinique, Guadeloupe and French Guiana).
== List of France Cloud CEOs ==
* Philippe Besnier (March 2005 – August 2008)
* Pierre Danon (September 2008 – December 2010)
* Eric Denoyer (December 2010 – present)
== 2011 Publicity Campaign ==
In October 2011, Numericable launched a €10 million nationwide advertising campaign with the advertising firm Fred & Farid that featured three fictional creatures that represent the three principal services of the company: television, internet and wireless communications. These mascots were named the Numiz (Cabiz in Portugal).