Fibre is arriving in the Sarthe department

Territorial digitalisation

July is a symbolic month for the Sarthe department (72). On Tuesday 13 July, Axione’s teams installed the 66^th and final Optical Connection Node (OCN) in the municipality of Auvers-le-Hamon. In July 2016, Axione installed the first OCN in the Sarthe. This project is the culmination of the optical fibre roll-out in this part of the region.

Connecting the region for businesses and consumers

Indeed, installing this 66th Optical Connection Node (OCN) is part of the regional digitalisation project entitled “Fibre is Coming to your Home” and was launched by the Sarthe department in 2014. As part of this programme, the Syndicat Mixte Sarthe Numérique (Sarthe Mixed Digital Syndicate) and the Sartel THD Public Initiative Network, a subsidiary of Axione Infrastructures, are working together to roll out optical fibre throughout the area. The aim is to deploy over 202,500 sockets to connect the entire department by the end of 2022.

This project is becoming a reality, with 100,000 sockets already in place throughout the area.

The installation of this final node means that Axione’s collaborators will be completing the installation of the 800 sockets that connect business and individuals in the d’Auvers-le-Hamon municipality. Access to very high speed internet enables users to benefit from a high-quality network for working from home, and to enjoy a wide range of leisure activities (streaming, video on demand) for instance.

These 66 optical fibre hubs put end-to-end represent a total of 1,800 m² of hosting space to accommodate all of the operators in the region. This technical challenge has been achieved collectively by Axione and Sartel THD, with the support of our Sarthe Digital representative. The next major stage is receiving the final PM, which is scheduled by the end of 2022.
Rémi Carrière, Director of Sartel THD

The figures for the roll-out project:

66 OCNs installed since 2016
€400 Million invested over 30 years
202,500 optical fibre sockets installed
16,000 km of fibre-optic cable deployed
73 000 hours of induction training provided
13 consumer operators and 175 corporate operators throughout the region

Decrypting Telecoms Jargon:

What is an Optical Connection Node?

The Optical Connection Node or OCN is a technical premises that serves as a hub for an optical fibre network. Active equipment is installed in these premises to enable operators to activate access for its subscribers, who are then able to access very high speed internet.