Our team in Grenoble is deploying the THD38 public initiative network for the Isère region in eastern France.

‘Isère THD’, an ambitious project that is part of the Plan France Très Haut Débit (super-fast broadband plan for France), consists in deploying an all-fiber network in 468 municipalities (92% of the region’s territory) for 450,000 subscribers, that is half the population. It addresses a national planning and development challenge aimed at reducing the digital divide between urban areas served by service providers and rural areas, as well as an economic challenge, with a target of covering 70% of the population and 100% of businesses and public-sector premises by the end of 2022.

Extensive Expertise

In 2015, Circet was selected by the Isère Council to design and build 2/3rds of its backbone network - the backhaul-distribution network. In this project, Circet is the appointed contractor and works in a consortium of civil engineering companies.

In Grenoble, a team of 20 is working on the project, supported by a design department and a works supervision department. The design department is in charge of designing the network and providing the deliverables up to acceptance testing. The works supervision department is in charge of the project overall and supervises the optical fiber construction sites.

The particular topography of this mountain region of France means that the infrastructure needs to be deployed in special conditions, not least to serve ski resorts, cross the Isère river, or climb mountains alongside the rails of a funicular.

Isère THD is one of the many super-fast broadband deployment projects in low-density areas across France in which we are involved.

Fast Facts 

  • Isère Council: the contracting authority for the backbone network
  • Backbone network construction time scale: 5 years
  • All-fiber network & 100% underground infrastructure
  • 900 km of civil engineering
  • 2,400 km of optical fiber
  • 110 equipment rooms called ‘optical central offices’ housing active equipment
  • Isère Fiber (a subsidiary of SFR Collectivités): the infrastructure operator in charge of constructing, operating and marketing the FTTH network to Internet Access Providers

Customer Testimonial

[Translate to English:] Voir la vidéo

I want to highlight the professionalism of Circet's teams: meeting deadlines in a tight schedule, within budget and up to the requisite standards of quality. They always demonstrate adaptability and responsiveness to meet the Isère region’s requirements. Circet is a great business partner for this type of project.

Pascal JOLLY
Isère region’s Broadband Planning Director