Digital uses in France: Arcep and Arcom publish the fifth edition of their common reference framework for digital uses

Arcep and Arcom have published the fifth edition of their joint reference guide to digital usage. This new edition updates and completes the reference data on digital uses and practices in France.

The digital usage benchmark, the result of collaboration between Arcep and Arcom within the "Pôle Numérique Commun", brings together figures on fixed and mobile network rollouts, Internet access, household equipment, Internet and audiovisual usage and the digital environmental fingerprint.

This fifth edition includes new themes such as time spent on screens and users' appreciation of this time, perceptions of artificial intelligence, and the latest trends in audio and video consumption. On the environmental front, this year's benchmark takes a closer look at the length of time smartphones are individually owned, and the power consumption of televisions. It also presents, for the first time, a precise assessment of the environmental impact of audiovisual uses.

Fixed and mobile broadband: rollouts and adoption of fiber and 5G technologies continue

The 2025 benchmark highlights the continuing increase in deployments and subscriptions to optical fiber. In ten years, the number of contracts has risen from less than 1 million to 24.4 million by the end of 2024. Deployment of 5G networks in France is also continuing, as is growth in the number of users. At the end of 2024, 24.3 million SIM cards were active on 5G networks, representing an increase of 10 million SIM cards in one year.

Increasingly connected and well-equipped individuals for diversifying Internet and audiovisual uses

In France, 94% of the population uses the Internet. Incoming data traffic to the main ISPs continues to grow (+8% year-on-year in the second half of 2023). More than half of this traffic comes from five major players (Netflix, Google, Akamai, Meta and Amazon).

In 2024, the preferred equipment for connecting to the Internet will remain the smartphone, and the growth of mobile uses (Internet browsing, instant messaging, Internet telephony) will continue. In particular, the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) has shown very rapid diffusion across the population. While generative AI first appeared in France at the end of 2022, a third of the population will be using it by 2024, and this proportion rises to 77% among 18-24 year-olds. AI does, however, arouse fears: 62% of the population consider it a threat to employment.

Overall, users spend an average of 4 hours a day on their screens for personal use, i.e. a quarter of the day awake. When asked about their perception of the amount of time they spend on screens, 42% of respondents felt they spent too much time on them, and even far too much for 19%.

In 2024, for the first time, smartphones will overtake TV sets as the equipment used to view videos (93% of households equipped, up 4 points in one year, versus 89% and -0.6 points respectively for TV sets). Smart TV equipment continues to increase, with 54% of households accessing the Internet and equipped with a connected TV (+1 point in one year).

Linear free-to-air TV channels remain the most popular video services: 80% of French people watch them at least once a week, compared with 53% for subscription video services.

However, the decline in the average length of time spent listening to video content continues in 2024 ( 4 minutes a day compared with 2023, at 4h23), and almost 50% of French people watch TV programs every week on social networks or video-sharing platforms. Digital channels are increasingly consumed as a complement to linear TV channels.

A similar complementarity can be observed for listening to radio or audio content (podcasts, music, etc.): while live radio remains the most widely used audio service, by 78% of French people, now 49% also consume content on audio streaming or video sharing platforms, and 36% on social networks.

A growing digital fingerprint

The growth and diversification of uses is having an impact on the digital fingerprint. The environmental footprint of data center operators will increase sharply on all the indicators studied in 2023 (greenhouse gas emissions, electricity consumption, water consumption), and the carbon footprint of telecom operators will increase, driven by the growth in electricity consumption by mobile networks.

For audiovisual use alone, their emissions would amount to 5.6 MtCO2 eq in 2022, or 0.9% of France's total carbon footprint. Handsets account for the bulk of this impact. By 2030, the footprint of audiovisual uses could increase by 29% if current trends continue. Conversely, measures combining eco-design and sobriety could reduce them by a third.

Related document :

> Arcep-Arcom common reference framework for digital uses

Arcep - Arcom digital cluster

The Arcep-Arcom Digital Cluster, created in 2020, aims to deepen the technical, economic and environmental analyses of digital markets, and to support the two regulators in the implementation of their digital missions.

One of the Pôle Arcep - Arcom's products is its digital usage reference system. Its aim is to provide the general public with common reference data on digital usage. By aggregating data from various established sources, it provides centralized, quantified data on fixed and mobile network rollouts, Internet access, household equipment, Internet and audiovisual usage, and the digital environmental fingerprint.

It has a work program, and the agreement signed on March 2, 2020 between the two institutions makes provision for alternating coordination between the two institutions. Anne Yvrande-Billon, Director of Economy, Markets and Digital at Arcep, is coordinator of the joint cluster. Bruno Schmutz, Director of Studies, Economics and Forecasting at Arcom, is the privileged correspondent for Arcom.

To find out more, click here:

- Presentation of the Arcep- Arcom digital cluster on the Arcep website

- Presentation of the Arcep- Arcom digital cluster on the Arcom website