France: EIB and CDC: EUR 72m for Haute Savoie’s very high-speed public broadband network

Syndicat des Énergies et de l'Aménagement numérique de la Haute-Savoie (SYANE) today signed loan contracts with the EIB and Caisse des Dépôts to finance Haute-Savoie’s publicly owned very high-speed broadband network.

Following the cooperation agreement signed between the two institutions on 13 June, this will be France’s first public digital network financed jointly by the EIB and Caisse des Dépôts.

SYANE’s President Jean-Paul Amoudry welcomed at the prefecture EIB Vice-President Philippe de Fontaine Vive and Caisse des Dépôts Regional Manager for the Rhône-Alpes Patrick François, together with Michel Rouault, Director for the Local Economy of Caisse d’Épargne Rhône-Alpes, Jean-Pierre Paviet, President of Crédit Agricole des Savoie, and Eric Delissnyder, Société Générale’s Regional Manager for the Savoie region. The public financial partners for this departmental network were also represented by Jean-François Carenco, Prefect for the Rhône-Alpes Region, Georges-François Leclerc, Prefect for Haute-Savoie, Jean-Jack Queyranne, President of the Rhône-Alpes Regional Council, Christian Monteil, President of the General Council of Haute-Savoie, and Presidents of various Haute-Savoie  intermunicipal associations.

The first phase of this publicly owned very high-speed broadband network in Haute-Savoie, totalling around 1 300 km, which is being promoted by SYANE in partnership with the General Council of Haute-Savoie, is intended to cover 255 of the department’s municipalities over five years and will involve

• business parks;
• 90% of firms  employing more than six people;
• secondary schools, institutes of higher education and research, and healthcare facilities;
• nearly half of households initially, increasing to 90% of homes within 15 years.

The aim of these loan contracts is to finance the first phase of the rollout of this network, at an estimated cost of EUR 131.5m excluding tax. M€ HT. Caisse des Dépôts and the EIB will enable SYANE to finance EUR 72m, broken down as follows:

• a EUR 36m loan financed by the EIB and intermediated by three banks (Caisse d’Epargne Rhône-Alpes, Crédit Agricole des Savoie and Société Générale). This financing operation should be seen as an integral part of the EIB’s increased activity in support of growth projects in the heart of the French regions, which is reflected in an annual financial commitment of more than EUR 7bn;

• a EUR 36m loan from the savings funds of Caisse des Dépôts. This 40-year loan is part of the EUR 20bn being made available by the institution over the period 2013-2017 for loans from savings funds for financing projects in the local public sector.

These loan contracts supplement the EUR 63.2m in public participations from the National Fund for a Digital Society (FSN), which is managed by Caisse des Dépôts on behalf of the Government as part of the Investments for the Future (EUR 26.5m), the Rhône-Alpes Region (EUR 12m), the General Council of Haute-Savoie (EUR 12m), the intermunicipal associations (EUR 7.2m) and SYANE (EUR 5.5m) as part of work carried out in advance.

The very high-speed network for Haute-Savoie, which will be constructed with SYANE as the contracting authority, will be operated under a leasing-type public service delegation contract. The private partner will run the network and market the services to the operators, which will in turn market the services to the end users. A leasing fee paid by the public service operator to SYANE will enable it to cover both the depreciation charge for the network and the repayment of interest on the debt.

This projet, which is being promoted by SYANE in partnership with the General Council of Haute-Savoie, is one of the priority areas for action decided on jointly by Caisse des Dépôts and the EIB. Under their cooperation agreement the two institutions adopted infrastructure for rolling out very high-speed broadband as a priority area for action.

France’s first public digital network to be financed by the EIB, this operation is fully in keeping with the Digital Agenda for Europe. This was designed to adapt the Union to growth built on digital innovation, which will help to generate productivity gains. It is also in keeping with the objective of the French authorities to connect 70% of the population to very high-speed broadband by 2020 and 100% by 2025 thanks to the national very high-speed programme.

The first very high-speed broadband project to be financed by Caisse des Dépôts under the EUR 20bn loan allocation from savings funds, it is also the first loan to be signed at the national level by Caisse des Dépôts for a very high-speed broadband network under the National Fund for a Digital Society, which it manages on behalf of the Government under Investments for the Future.

Following the signing ceremony, SYANE’s President Jean-Paul Amoudry stated that: “The construction of Haute-Savoie’s publicly owned very high-speed broadband network is based on values of regional solidarity and fairness, for balanced and responsible development of the department. It is aimed primarily at the business world services and companies that have been waiting for the top-quality digital services that are necessary for the development of our region and to increase employment. This network is also intended to cover the entire population of Haute-Savoie as soon as possible”.

EIB Vice-President Philippe de Fontaine Vive followed this by saying that “this financing operation is symbolic: it is the first public digital network to be financed jointly by the EIB and Caisse des Dépôts. Only three months after the agreement for closer cooperation with Caisse des Dépôts, we are mobilising our expertise and resources with one voice in the heart of a department on a project to promote economic development, innovation and social cohesion that is essential for Haute Savoie and its inhabitants. That is what Europe is about: taking action in the heart of the regions to improve competitiveness and promote inclusive growth”.

Jean-Pierre Jouyet, CEO of Caisse des Dépôts, emphasised that “this co-financing operation with the EIB is the first one under the partnership agreement signed in June. Our two institutions have thus been able to cooperate effectively and carry out long-term financing operations that are essential for this type of project. This is also the first very high-speed broadband infrastructure project to be financed from the EUR 20bn to be made available to the local public sector and I am delighted that the savings of French men and women are now making it possible to finance this sector that is crucial for the economic development of the regions.”