Paris, 6th August 2020 – Altitude Infrastructure, one of the major French operator deploying
fibre across France, has announced the acquisition of Kosc Telecom. Kosc Telecom is the
French wholesale-only CaaS – Connectivity as a Service – provider: since 2017, the carrier
provides local access to any operator serving the enterprise market in France, through a
fully integrated and automated CaaS e-Portal. The 14 million euros takeover bid was
validated on Monday June 29th and a further investment of 100 million euros is planned over
the next 5 years to accelerate Kosc Telecom development to better serve its carrier
customers’ growth.
More than ever, Kosc Telecom will continue to pave the way for the digitization of businesses in France,
leveraging Altitude Infrastructure’s expertise and resources. Historically specialized in Public Initiative
Networks (“Réseaux d’Initiative Privée”, in French, also known as “RIP”), Altitude Infrastructure deploys
fibre in low-density areas. Born with the same wholesale-only DNA, Altitude Infrastructure already
owns 3 million plugs, that is about 10% of French households. By combining their strengths, Altitude
Infrastructure reinforces further Kosc Telecom existing position as the ubiquitous one-stop-shop for
business carriers, thanks to a wide range of high and very high-speed connectivity – broadband and
fibre – services, with nationwide availability. As of 2020, 10 million E-Access Fibre lines and 12 million
Best-Effort Fibre lines are available mainland.
“With this acquisition, Altitude takes over a very high-speed infrastructure that was historically built
and designed to irrigate businesses nationwide. The health crisis we are going through has further
highlighted the need for French-based companies of all sizes to have access to high quality broadband
coverage in all areas of the country. Supporting Kosc’s activity enables us to offer these companies the
tools to succeed in their digitalization and, in the present context, in their economic recovery”
underlines Dorothée LEBARBIER, Managing Director of Altitude. “Altitude Infrastructure brings to Kosc
30 years of expertise. We will continue investing in the technical infrastructure which is efficient today
and will be even more so tomorrow”.
“It is essential to maintain a competitive offer at attractive prices in terms of very high-speed
connectivity. With this takeover, we are asserting our determination to fight to get lines moving in the
French business telecoms market. We are fortunate to be part of a family group, solid and conquering,
which will put all its experience at Kosc’s disposal”, explains David ELFASSY, Chairman of Altitude
Infrastructure and Kosc. “We are going to invest 100 million euros over the next five years to make a
lasting impact on the B2B fibre market. This takeover corresponds to a real “time to market”: the
transition of French-based companies to fibre is now”.
“This move by Altitude Infrastructure is a strong recognition of the value Kosc Telecom have created
with its 50 customers in barely 4 years, as the French wholesale-only CaaS – Connectivity as a Service
– provider. It also reinforces a common vision of a strong wholesale-only model that both Altitude
Infrastructure and Kosc Telecom share”, explains Antoine FOURNIER, CEO of Kosc Telecom.
Kosc Telecom provides two product lines, offering high-speed and very high-speed connectivity to
deliver local access solutions in France for domestic and international carriers:
- At an affordable price with the Best-Effort line: Broadband Max (DSL) & Best-Effort Fibre
- With the best SLAs with the E-Access MEF line: EFM (DSL) & E-Access Fibre
MEF-compliant E-Access products guarantee symmetrical bandwidth at the highest speed; the highest
level of security and confidentiality through a dedicated physical line; and the highest service availability
with a 4-hour Guaranteed Restoration Time.
Using Kosc’s CaaS solution available through UIs and APIs, Kosc customers can enjoy
connectivity on demand and experience a seamless customer journey. Thus they can easily
orchestrate, from a unique interface, all their connectivity services from start to finish: they can check
service eligibility, submit, track and modify their orders, launch health checks on their existing services
and log trouble tickets, all within the same integrated user interface, available for all of Kosc’s
broadband and fibre services. In addition, Kosc’s customer success team is fully dedicated to supporting
customers at all times.
About Altitude Infrastructure
Altitude Infrastructure, a subsidiary of the Altitude family holding company created by Jean-Paul Rivière in
1990, has been working with local authorities since 2001 to build, develop, operate and market alternative
telecommunications networks. With nearly 3 million FTTH connections contracted, Altitude Infrastructure is
one of the French leaders in digital regional development and operates 17 Public Initiative Networks
nationwide. As a wholesale-only carrier, it offers a catalogue of services open to all telecom operators on
the networks deployed and is recognized for the neutrality of its technological choices and the quality of its
operation.
To find out more: http://www.altitudeinfrastructure.fr
About Kosc Telecom
Established in March 2016, Kosc Telecom is the French wholesale-only CaaS provider. CaaS – Connectivity
as a Service – is a whole new way of increasing global carrier business opportunities in France. Thanks to
its fully integrated and automated CaaS solution, available through UIs and APIs, Kosc Telecom is committed
to delivering the best customer experience. From a unique interface, you can get access to the most
comprehensive wholesale-only coverage in France and orchestrate all your connectivity services from start
to finish. Indeed, with a state-of-the-art broadband and fibre optic infrastructure, covering over 200 cities
nationwide, the carrier is now opening the way to fibre migration for every company in France.
For more information: www.kosc-telecom.fr
Press contact:
Cynthia Trules – +33 1 86 95 86 95 – cynthia.trules@kosc-telecom.fr
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