France has a new public company: Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN), a subsidiary for the production and installation of submarine telecommunications cables of the Finnish equipment manufacturer Nokia. Antoine Armand, Minister of Economy, as well as Marc Ferracci, head of Industry, will sign on November 5, at the end of the morning, in Calais (Pas de Calais), in the company’s historic factory, the Contract for the acquisition of the 80% of the capital. The negotiations between the State and Nokia were revealed on June 27.
The amount of the operation amounts to approximately 100 million euros, to which must be added the assumption of 250 million euros of ASN debt. Nokia will retain 20% of the capital, but the State Participation Agency (APE) may buy back this stake in the future, under undisclosed conditions. This acquisition is not subject to the vote on the finance bill for 2025. The sum will be withdrawn from the special allocation account for state financial contributions.
The Finnish group, which inherited ASN in 2015 when it acquired Alcatel-Lucent, had been thinking about the future of this company for two years. The State did not want it to fall into the wrong hands. “ASN is a strategic company”insists the Ministry of Industry.
France, nerve center of the global network
99% of global Internet traffic passes through fiber optic cables deployed at the bottom of the seas and oceans, historically by telecommunications operators and, in recent years, by digital giants such as Meta (Facebook) or Google. There are currently more than 480 in service. However, with its maritime facade, France is a nerve center of the global network. Four transatlantic cables linking Europe with the United States reach the coast of France. To Marseille, 18 lines arrive from Asia and Africa or depart to these destinations.
ASN, the only European manufacturer of submarine fiber optic cables for telecommunications, owns around a third of this world market, together with the American SubCom and the Japanese NEC. It has manufactured all the cables that connect Africa, including 2Africa, the latest pharaonic project undertaken in 2020 by a consortium led by Meta. With 45,000 kilometers in length, this network, in partial service since June, interconnects Europe, Asia and the African continent, reaching the coasts of thirty-three countries.
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