Before deploying optical fiber in the Ecusson, the City of Nîmes adopts a charter for good network implementation

Le déploiement de la fibre optique à Nîmes sera très cadrée au niveau de l’Ecusson. Archive Alexis Bethune

Les travaux de déploiement de la fibre optique dans le quartier historique du centre de Nîmes sont prévus en 2024.

Work to deploy optical fiber in the historic district of the historic center of Nîmes, the Écusson, will begin in 2024. This is what was announced to the municipal council on Saturday April 6 during the vote for a new charter for good implementation intended for operators and their subcontractors.

For two years, the City of Nîmes and the operator Orange have been organizing the deployment of this optical fiber in close collaboration with the departmental architecture and heritage unit coordinated by the Architect of Buildings of France.

Remarkable heritage site

Indeed, it is not a question of carrying out a project without taking into account the fact that the perimeter of the Badge has been registered as a Remarkable Heritage Site since 1985. The deliberation specifies ;elsewhere the challenges of this deployment: "To install fiber, this requires a qualitative and careful approach in order to reduce the visual perception of the installations (cabinets, boxes, cables, etc…) and preserve the architectural and heritage quality places."

To leave nothing to chance, a charter for good network implementation has been drawn up to guide interventions in public spaces, the routing of wires and cables on buildings, connection points , concentration, drilling of facade walls and construction sites.

Relief

For residents and traders, this charter is also good news because it confirms the deployment of optical fiber in the historic heart of Nîmes after several months of combat. In January 2023, a petition was launched by CENIM connect (Committee for the Living and Connected NÎMois Badge) to request this installation because the ADSL used was no longer really performing well in the second part of the day.

Merchants will particularly appreciate the arrival of fiber announced in 2025 because they greatly need it for transactions via bank terminals. For its part, Orange is resolutely continuing its deployment in the city, taking into account its specific heritage and local wealth.