French telecom giants SFR and Bouygues Telecom fall victim to vandalism sparking isolated outages across the country

Vandalism targeting French telecom installations causes disruptions in fixed and mobile services, raising concerns about potential impact on Olympic activities.

Key Points

• Telecom installations belonging to French companies SFR and Bouygues Telecom were vandalized, leading to isolated outages.
• The damage was extensive, with cuts made to long-distance networks in five different parts of France.
• However, SFR’s spokesman reassured that the impact on clients was minimal due to the network’s ability to reroute traffic.
• Cables were also cut in southern France, affecting mainly fixed-line services.
• The Meuse region near Luxembourg and the Oise area near Paris were among those affected.
• Concerns are rising about whether these disruptions will have a wider impact on the Olympics currently underway across Europe.
• This incident follows a worrying trend of targeted violence against critical infrastructure in recent days, including arson attacks on high-speed train routes just hours before the Opening Ceremony.

Telecom installations belonging to French companies SFR and Bouygues Telecom were targeted by vandals in the early hours of Monday morning, leading to disruptions in fixed and mobile services. The attacks come just days after a wave of arson attacks on high-speed train routes caused widespread traffic chaos.

The damage was extensive, with cuts made to long-distance networks in five different parts of France. However, SFR’s spokesman reassured that the impact on clients was minimal due to the network’s ability to reroute traffic. Cables were also cut in southern France, affecting mainly fixed-line services. The Meuse region near Luxembourg and the Oise area near Paris were among those affected.

The secretary of state for digital affairs, Marina Ferrari, condemned the attacks on social media, stating that “damages committed in several departments last night affected our telecommunications operators.” She noted that the localized consequences had an impact on access to fiber, fixed telephony, and mobile telephony.

As France hosts the Olympics, concerns are rising about whether these disruptions will have a wider impact on the games. The authorities are yet to confirm any direct link between the vandalism and Olympic activities.

The attacks follow a worrying trend of targeted violence against critical infrastructure in recent days. Unidentified arsonists had set fire to high-speed train routes just hours before the Opening Ceremony, causing massive traffic congestion.