Brittany: the internet and telephone network is hanging by a thread
January 3, 2023: The situation on the West-Breton network at the end of the morning… after repairs began on the “vandalized” fiber optic cable
Internet and telephony: huge breakdown on Breton networks, act of vandalism reported
France3/France Bleu/Le Télégramme, January 3, 2024
A giant blackout has been affecting Bouygues Télécom, SFR and Free since 3am on Wednesday January 3 in the four departments of Brittany. No internet connection, no telephone in Finistère, Morbihan and Côtes-d’Armor, or Loire-Atlantique, particularly in the Morlaix, Brest, Douarnenez, Concarneau and Quimper areas in Finistère, but also in Vannes and Lorient in Morbihan.
The outage affects mobile and fixed-line networks operated by Bouygues, SFR and Free, who share the same lines and antennas, and have all reported this network incident. According to Bouygues Telecom’s communications department, the outage was not caused by the storm, as many had thought, but by a physical cut in the fiber at around 3 a.m.. Free further clarifies the circumstances of the incident: “an act of vandalism on the railroad tracks between Saint-Brieuc and Morlaix”. As for Altice, SFR’s parent company, it states that it was indeed a malicious act.
Update (BFM, 3/1/24):
This so-called “long-distance” fiber is used to carry traffic to the boxes, which then use fiber to the customer’s home, but also ADSL. This same fiber also feeds mobile antennas, enabling SMS, voice communications and Internet access from smartphones. For its part, Orange, which has its own long-distance fiber optic network, confirms that it has not been affected by these technical difficulties.
Giant network failure in Brittany: SFR to file a complaint
France Bleu, January 3, 2024 (excerpt)
SFR confirms to France Bleu on Wednesday January 3 that the origin of this gigantic mobile network failure is indeed due to an act of vandalism of its equipment on the railroad tracks between Morlaix and Saint-Brieuc, last night at 3am. Teams were able to repair the severed fibers, the mobile network returned at 11:45 and the Internet was restored at 2:15 in the early afternoon.
Franck Coudrieau, head of Altice’s Western delegation for SFR, explains that the breakdown was due to a number of optical fibers, SFR’s main equipment, being severed: “The fibers were cut very clearly. (…) in multiple places.” As SFR leases its equipment to Bouygues Télécom and Free, all three operators were affected.
With the help of the SNCF, which owns the vandalized tracks, SFR has announced its intention to file a complaint against X. Regular discussions between SNCF and SFR are taking place to try and find solutions to avoid these acts of vandalism and consequent breakdowns. But as Franck Coudrieau admits, “it’s very complicated to put teams behind every kilometer of SNCF track”.
“A morning of hardship”: in Quimper, residents without a network for several hours
Ouest France, January 3, 2024 (extract)
And then it was pitch black. From 7 a.m. this morning, residents of Quimper (Finistère) woke up without a telephone network or internet connection. The outage affected networks in part of Brittany, and was not resolved until 11.40am.
At Quimper station (Finistère), during the morning, this upset a number of passengers, who were disturbed by the situation. A few meters away, motorists were trying in vain to pay the ticket machine in the station parking lot. I’m in a hurry,” said one. I can’t understand it, it’s been ticking over for ten minutes.” Not surprising, since all Quimper’s parking meters – especially those on the boulevards along the quays – were blocked for the duration of the outage.
Under these conditions, it was also difficult to reach emergency services and public authorities, such as the gendarmerie and fire department. The Quimper gendarmerie was itself affected by the telephone breakdown. On its Facebook page, the prefecture of Finistère, located in Quimper, invited people to contact emergency numbers, preferably 112 from a landline or cell phone.
Located in the Palais de Justice, a few meters from the Odet, the public prosecutor’s office, whose operator is Bouygues, is still “cut off from the world”, according to the prosecutor.
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via: sansnom
Translated by Act for freedom now!