€242m to boost internet speed in 10 French departments

The government has pledged €242million to accelerate the provision of very high speed broadband in 10 departments.

The funding will be shared out among the Côte d'Or, Nièvre, Yonne, Dordogne, Gard, Hérault, Mayenne, Orne, Somme and Tarn-et-Garonne departments, a statement from the Prime Minister's office said.

"More than four million premises have been made connectable to optical fibre over the past 12 months," Matignon's press service said, bringing the total number of households eligible for Very High Speed Internet access to 21.6million people.

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has pledged that the whole of France will have access to broadband by the end of 2020 - followed by access to very high speed broadband within two years.