Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN), a company that has been owned by Nokia since 2015, will become a public company. The State did not want to take any risks as the latter’s activity is essential. Let’s take stock.
Why is the State nationalizing ASN?
The French State therefore acquired 80% of the capital of this company for 100 million euros, which valued it at 350 million euros. The latter produces and lays submarine cables. We also know that 99% of global internet traffic passes through these installations.
We don’t have to look very far for the reasons for this nationalization. Indeed, Nokia was wondering about the future of this company. However, and as stated The Worldthe government did not want ASN to fall into the wrong hands, because it is “of a strategic company”.
A good deal for the state?
In addition to this major question of sovereignty, the State Participation Agency (APE) specifies that “the acquisition of ASN is intended to be profitable” for the state “which intends to “support and accelerate the growth of the company in its core business and adjacent activities”. In fact, ASN has doubled its turnover over the last five years and this amounted to 1.12 billion euros with a prospect of “doubling or tripling in the years to come”.
Our colleagues also point out that ASN is the only European manufacturer positioned in this sector and that it holds a third of the global market. Recently, this company distinguished itself on the 2Africa project which is supposed to interconnect Europe, Asia and Africa over a distance of 45,000 kilometers.
Major risks around submarine cables
To provide some context to this information, you should know that the question of potential sabotage of French submarine cables is taken very seriously by the authorities. The latter could in fact be manipulated by hand by divers or via small submarines controlled remotely.
In the event of imminent danger, the State has even developed a list of urgent actions in order to allow essential data to circulate, such as those concerning hospitals, airports, or even banking information. Incidentally, this could lead to the temporary shutdown of services like Netflix and YouTube, which are very bandwidth intensive. More information on this in our previous article here.
What to remember:
- The French state buys Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) from Nokia for 100 million euros
- This decision is taken for reasons of sovereignty
- It could also prove profitable for public finances
