(Telecompaper) Orange will soon commercialise its FTTH broadband offers in France across all the public initiative networks (known as RIP, Reseaux d'Initiative Publique) currently being deployed by third-party operators such as Covage, Altitude and Axione. Nearly 2 million French premises were covered by these rural networks at the end of 2018, according to telecom regulator Arcep. Within this footprint, Orange's fibre offers are already available to over 500,000 households and businesses. Coverage will be extended to nearly 3 million eligible premises by the end of 2019, across public initiative networks run by third-party operators and those where Orange is responsible for the deployment.