Managing Director of Zeop for almost a year, Xavier Joseph gives us a map of the only 100% Reunionese telecoms operator at the start of 2022. Its new ambitions around the notion of a digital hub have been revealed in recent months, and it was interesting to recall them in order to better perceive their coherence and scope. The main thing that emerges from this interview, it's that, in the context of developments caused by the pandemic, a company specializing in digital and telecoms, as anchored in its territory as zeop is, is an opportunity for Reunion. When zeop projects into the future, it is clearly through a vision of Reunion as a technologically advanced platform. From one project to another, between fiber, 5 G, hosting and data transfer, wiring, Xavier Joseph thus highlights the assets of an island which must realize that it is at the top level in terms of telecoms and digital infrastructure.. With all the opportunities it offers him in a changing world
The health crisis was the trigger for an acceleration of digital in our lives : has this momentum towards digital translated at zeop into a jump in activity and an evolution of the service offering? ?
The health crisis did not trigger an increase in volume of our activity but a confirmation of our investment choices for Reunion, namely fiber for all. Nobody believed it, we did it, almost all Reunion Islanders have internet today and 85% have access to fiber. Réunion is the most fiber-connected department in France. On the other hand, where the health crisis has changed our professions, it’s about the requirement for reliability and quality. Telecoms and digital infrastructures are essential to be able to telework and more generally, to stay connected and maintain social bonds. The breakdown, service interruption, took on a much more dramatic character than it had previously been. This crisis was the accelerator of a requirement among our customers to which we had to respond by being more committed to them.
What lessons do you learn from this never-ending health crisis? ? Do you think like others that the world has changed ?
It is clear that a certain number of things will never return to the same. I see three lasting changes we must adapt to. The first, is that companies will now have part of their activity teleworking. Which means for us to invest in order to maintain our infrastructures at high technological levels. Second change : people will travel less, this is true territorial continuity. Professionally speaking, we will no longer take the plane like we used to. New habits are already formed. They will last. Everyone realizes that to see each other for two hours in an office in Paris, we can just as easily do it by videoconference. For us, the development of videoconferencing is another issue : it is about, here again, to ensure maximum service reliability. Knowing that this concerns our own activity just as much. Finally the third change, which follows from the previous two, it is that we will still have to find a way to maintain the physical link, to retain its primordial value in human contact, to continue functioning in society. I admit that how to achieve this is one of my current questions.
The name zeop is so familiar that it seems like the company has been around for a very long time, while it took off with its acquisition by the Océinde group in 2011 : what are zeop’s jobs today, what is its territorial presence and how many people does it employ? ?
What you say makes us happy, honors us, we have come a long way with still very nice surprises for all the people of Reunion. Today, zeop, there are 300 employees in direct employment and the same number in indirect employment. And by indirect employment, I mean people who work exclusively for us, but who, for flexibility issues, are employed by partners or subcontractors. Our primary activity includes the provision of fixed internet services., exclusively in fiber optic, and we are the only operator on the island to only offer very high speed. It is this singularity that sets us apart. Since 2019, we also offer a mobile telephony offer which has developed well. Today we have 70,000 mobile customers and 15 landline points of sale., distributed almost everywhere on the island, including 10 own stores, 2 franchised stores and more or less long-term stands in supermarkets. We manage three network heads bringing together all the machines allowing the fixed network and the mobile network to operate.. Our main headend is located, on our headquarters website, at the Port and our two secondary network heads, in Saint-Pierre and Saint-Benoît.
Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, zeop revealed its ambition to make Réunion an international digital hub, focused in particular on Africa and Asia. What is the strategic vision of the island that guides zeop today and how does it translate into objectives?, projects and investment ?
The idea being to consider that it exists in the middle of the Indian Ocean, between Africa and Asia, an island of political stability, economic and institutional : it’s Reunion, French and European territory with high-performance telecoms and digital infrastructures. Making Réunion the 6th global hub is our ambition. Like the Omega antenna of the time, Réunion will be at the heart of the Indian Ocean and the world. Fact, a certain number of actors may have an interest in positioning their data in Reunion, knowing that they will be covered by French and European regulations guaranteeing their integrity and security. It is true that data can be located anywhere in the world since networks are global.. The fact remains that after a certain time, networks being complex and evolving things, a truly global player – and I am mainly thinking of GAFAM – needs to distribute its data across the entire planet and not concentrate everything in the same place. Spatial distribution secures data. On the other hand, regarding data transfer, it has the advantage of reducing distances, allowing shorter access times. We believe that the political and institutional stability of the Reunion territory offers the type of secure universe that these actors are looking for.. The same is true for actors needing to irrigate, either Asia, either Africa, either both. As an example, I will cite our beginning of discussion with the Bollywood studios which have plans to expand towards Africa. The big Indian film industry stores all its data in India. To irrigate Africa, Reunion offers him a particularly safe and well-located relay point in the heart of the Indian Ocean.. It is powered by four cables, including the Metiss cable connecting Mauritius, Reunion and Madagascar to South Africa, entered service last March and which we co-financed. The other three cables being Safe Est which goes to Asia, Safe West which goes to Kenya and Lion which goes to Europe by touring Africa.
What is the role of Metiss ?
It is to bring security and redundancy to an aging network, especially Leo, Lower Indian Ocean Network, the oldest and which should be decommissioned in the next five to ten years. In the context of new uses such as downloading content, teleworking, video conferences, etc., four cables, it has become the vital minimum to ensure quality and continuity of service in data transfer and internet traffic.
How long does a cable last? ?
This is the big question. We think, a priori, that the cables have a physical lifespan of around forty years. The economic agreements of the consortia financing the cables are generally for twenty years.
What does this investment bring to zeop? ?
It is of extreme importance to us. When you don't own a piece of cable, you need to buy your capacity. You are in a logic of rental and daily operating expenses. And you pay more or less depending on the capacity available on the cables financed by other operators. If you are not the owner, you are dependent on this market. The best solution is therefore to invest with partners. This is what we did. This investment guarantees us long-term visibility on capacity and price.. It also reflects the level of development that zeop has reached to date..
zeop brings together 300 employees and employs 300 people as subcontractors
Where is the project to create the two data centers at the Port and the Technopole de la Réunion in Saint-Denis? ?
Data hosting is a diversification towards which we wish to move. You should know that we already provide this service to some of our business clients.. But we need additional space to be able to welcome new customers. This is one of the reasons that pushed us to create an activity that is entirely dedicated to data hosting.. This does not exist on the island. We, we want to make it a full-fledged profession. We launched with partners, these two data center projects. These projects are progressing. That of the Port faster than that of the Technopole. Work on the Port data center will start in the coming months.
Which customers are you targeting in data storage with this equipment? : the meeting, the Indian Ocean, the metropolis, the world ?
We want to offer Reunion companies, on their territory, secure and professional data hosting solutions. Lack of equipment at Reunion, some Reunionese companies store their data in Mauritius. There is a gap to fill. Maintenance work on computer servers must also be considered.. The data center activity is a purely real estate activity. Unless they're the ones asking you, you do not work on your customers’ equipment. You offer them secure infrastructures with air conditioning, the energy needed, etc. You do not have access to their equipment under any circumstances.. However, this equipment needs maintenance. We think it’s an advantage to be able to do it nearby, in the meeting, rather than in a foreign country. And indeed, we join our digital hub logic. Our data centers will also be the storage brick for the Reunion digital hub. We are looking to interest GAFAM in this, and Indian data producers…
zeop was one of the first companies to raise awareness in the economic community about the problem of cybercrime. Even recently, an information day presented Fortinet solutions, which is one of the main global players in cybersecurity, of which you are a partner. What does cybersecurity mean to you? : an essential but complementary element of the overall Business offer or a specialty in its own right called to develop independently ?
A bit of a mix of both : it is an element of support for our business clients, but also an element of diversification. Cybersecurity complements our overall Business offering. It is likely that it will become an activity in its own right. We have not yet made a strategic choice. More, taking into account the needs in this area, and as is the case with other players in the digital sector, I think that cybersecurity is destined to become a specialty for us that will stand on its own two feet.. Our ambition is clearly to offer this type of service to companies that are not part of our telecoms clients.. We therefore envisage that the cybersecurity team will have its own premises as part of the Village by CA.
Internet service provider, zeop introduced fiber to Reunion. How many customers do you currently equip and are you still a leader in this historic business? ?
Fiber at zeop, Today, more than 100,000 fiber customers and 3,500 kilometers of network belong to us. We are number one in very high speed and have just won the nPerf for best speed for the fifth time in a row. You should know that the potential for development of fiber is still colossal.
Is the fiber cabling of Réunion not completed? ?
He almost is. It’s at the level of the equipment that makes the network work, in terms of flow, that things can change. Fiber, future investments will no longer be made in the fiber itself, but on the equipment allowing to increase the flow. You should know that to date no one is able to say what the speed limits are possible on fiber. We provide a service of one gigabit of speed per second and we offer subscriptions of 2,4 gigabits per second. From now on, with appropriate investments, we could, if the market demanded it and with a price consideration of course, go up to 10 gigabits per second. It is not at all unimaginable that, tomorrow, with technologies that do not yet exist, we can offer up to 100 gigabits on fiber !
Flow rates of such a level would be of particular interest to professional circles., the industry in particular which continues to evolve itself in terms of technologies ?
Effectively, the question of use also arises for 5 G, where zeop will position itself. 5 G brings additional speed. It allows you to download faster and download in places where it was not possible or very difficult.. We know it meets the needs of transferring large amounts of data, that is to say for professional uses, particularly industrial. But will it interest the average consumer who already has, with 4G, what it needs in terms of performance ? The use of 5 G by individuals remains a question to which today, we don't yet know how to completely answer. All operators are wondering. In a city, we see that commercial offers in 5G are more expensive than in 4G. However, technology creates the use. We saw this with 4G where similar questions arose at the start... However, a telecoms operator cannot stay away from such technological developments.. For our part, we are thinking more about an industrial offer. We think this is a first step.
Do you know how 5G will be deployed in Reunion?, and within what time frame ?
The 3,500 megahertz frequency auction process, say 5G, was completed before Christmas. The four operators on the island have obtained their frequencies, about the same amount each. These frequencies will be physically usable from April. What will be the 5G deployment schedule?, given the investments it involves ? I ignore it. I only know that no one is allowed to start before April. The deployment will logically begin with the most densely populated areas. Afterwards will come the commercial offers.
zeop launched into mobile telephony in May 2019. Where are you in this area? ?
Another zeop innovation with the launch of the first unlimited internet offer in France ! With 70,000 customers, we achieved a significant market share of 8%, growing strongly, in just under three years. We are very competitive. And we benefited from our image of excellence on landlines. We have the most modern mobile network on the island. zeop was a recognized operator, with a reputation for quality and innovation. We are very satisfied and we do not intend to stop there.
At a time when energy saving is becoming the norm, Isn’t it a paradox to see pylons carrying Zeop’s antennas?, SFR, Orange and Free, to cover the same area, where just one would be enough... ?
If a certain number of pylons can be preserved, the deployment of 5 G will necessarily result in an increase in the number of antennas. In order to limit the impact on the environment, I think that all players in the sector should show intelligence by promoting enhanced cohabitation, that is to say the possibility of installing our antennas on the pylons of the competition and vice versa. This is already being practiced.
zeop distributes the Nickel banking service in Reunion. How many people benefit from this payment and money withdrawal solution today in 2021 ? How many tobacconists offer it? ?
Nickel offers the possibility of banking people with fluctuating incomes and obtaining a bank card with very little procedure.. We became a distributor of the Nickel account because we considered this service useful and consistent with our desire to participate in the economic and social development of Reunion Island.. Nickel works very well in Reunion. Sixty points of sale offer this banking service. We opened it in Mayotte, three months ago, at the request of Nickel. It starts very well there too.
Zeop received a Business and Territory Trophy in 2017 for its CSR approach. How is zeop exemplary in this area? ?
Our CSR policy is currently being formalized. First of all, it is human resources that, an internal, are very active in the feminization of teams, as well as for training. From the beginning, zeop is committed to reducing the digital divide and being a universal operator that leaves no neighborhood behind. Each time we have been able to make a contribution to the development of the territory, we did it. This is the case with Nickel. And more recently with Rundrive (see also Leader News p 10), carpooling concept designed by zeop. We are partners of several cultural venues and events. The main ones are the TEAT of the Reunion, the Réunion Métis festival, the Komidi theater festival and the Brisants Open Beach Tennis. We also support associations in the organization of different trails. This is all that we want to formalize, by adding an environmental component. We plan to electrify our vehicle fleet and install solar panels on some of our sites..
Xavier Joseph, a network specialist
At the general management of Zeop for almost a year, Xavier Joseph spent most of his career in the utilities industry, that is to say the production and distribution of water, electricity production and distribution, energy efficiency and waste treatment. “I worked in all these professions for 15 years in France, then for 12 years abroad : four years in Morocco and eight years in Dubai,” he sums up.. Note that Xavier Joseph was also a consultant in 1995 for Jirama, Madagascar electricity and water utility company. This great experience of networks, provision of telecoms, is reminiscent of the fact that, among the first companies to be interested, in France in the 1980s, to digital cabling (the information highways, they said at the time), included large water distribution companies.
Comments collected by Olivier Soufflet
