Digital uses in France: Arcep and Arcom publish the fourth edition of their common reference framework for digital uses
Arcep and Arcom have published the fourth 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 fourth edition includes new themes such as equipment for virtual reality headsets, the use of digital press and artificial intelligence, information on social networks, investment in creation by on-demand audiovisual media service editors, and the sharing of advertising revenues between traditional and digital players. The "environment and digital" section also includes data on the environmental footprint of terminal manufacturers and data center operators, as well as an analysis of the power consumption of Internet boxes and TV set-top boxes.
Fixed and mobile broadband: ongoing rollouts and adoption of fiber and 5G technologies
The benchmark highlights the continuing increase in rollouts and the number of very-high-speed contracts on fixed networks, driven entirely by fiber optics. By the end of 2023, two-thirds of all Internet subscribers will have a fiber optic contract (i.e. 21.4 million fiber subscriptions). Deployments in 5G networks in France are also continuing, as is the growth in the number of active users on 5G networks, reaching 14 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, or 17% of all mobile cards.
Increasingly connected and equipped individuals for diversifying Internet and audiovisuel uses
In France, 9 out of 10 people use the Internet. In 2023, the preferred equipment for connecting to the Internet will continue to be the smartphone, and the growth in cell phone usage will continue: 85% of the population will use the Internet from their smartphone (+3 points in one year). In addition, Internet usage continues to diversify: on the one hand, the proportion of regular readers of the digital press is increasing (60% of the population aged 12 and over in 2023, +4 points in three years) and, on the other hand, the use of artificial intelligence is diffusing (20% of individuals have already made use of it).
Televisions and smartphones are the main equipment in homes used to view videos (for 90% and 89% of French households respectively). While these rates of TV and smartphone équipement are stabilizing, a sign of market maturity, smart TV équipement continues to increase: more than half of all households are equipped with a connected TV (53%, +4 points in one year).
From a usage point of view, the renewal of audiovisual practices and the transition to digital media continue, with, on the one hand, a decline in individual television listening time (ITA) that will continue into 2023, and, on the other, access to live television that remains predominant on connected TV sets (whatever the connection mode: smart TV, internet box...). On these connected TV sets, consumption of both linear and non-linear services is tending to multiply, particularly among rights holders. Nevertheless, after a sharp increase in recent years, the number of subscribers to video-on-demand (SVOD) services is levelling off (56% of French people claim to have such a contract, a rate comparable to 2022).
The environmental footprint of digital uses
The digital usage benchmark highlights new indicators such as the power consumption of TV boxes and set-top boxes. Boxes and set-top boxes have proven to be very energy-intensive: their annual electricity consumption represents 0.7% of electricity consumption in France in 2022, and is three times higher than that of fixed networks.
Meanwhile, the drop in the volume of new digital equipment coming onto the market in 2022 could help to reduce the environmental footprint of terminal manufacturers. This reduction should, however, be offset by the increase in the size of equipment screens, which contributes to the rise in their impact. In addition, the share of refurbished phones in telecom operators' sales remains very low (4% compared with 25% for other distribution channels).
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 uses, 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, has been coordinating the joint cluster since July 1, 2023, for a one-year term. 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
The press release
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