Is France a Broadband Nirvana? A Look at the Data

There have been several claims that France has superior broadband compared to service offerings available in the United States. The root of these claims is the argument that the French government imposes significant regulation upon Internet Service Providers. Based on data on broadband deployment, adoption, and performance, this paper shows that France’s high-speed networks are, relative to other EU members and the U.S., under-deployed and under-subscribed. Also, France’s broadband networks have slowed under the weight of rising traffic caused by behavioral changes from the COVID pandemic, though the networks in the U.S. have proven resilient.