RENAN--An Experimental ISDN Project in France

The French telephone network has reached the level of nearly 50 percent digitization in 1985. This makes France, among industrialized nations, a ripe territory for the offering of a wide range of general public digital services. As of 1985, any two users nationwide can be linked by a 64 kbit/s digital connection via the Telecom 1 satellite communications network or the digital connection ground network. The RENAN project, launched in 1983, aims at the full-size experimentation of the ISDN as defined by the CCITT during its last work period. It has two main objectives: one is purely technical, whereas the other is service-oriented. This second aspect is approached in close cooperation with the business subscribers addressed by the experiment. All equipment to be installed for the project has been developed by French industry. They have been greatly involved with the project and can thereby achieve optimal integration within the existing network structure, and can profit from the investments made over the past several years. The RENAN project should help to define future policies of the French Direction Générale des Télécommunications regarding services and networks, and extend for several years to come the lead taken by France in the area of digital networks.