Bouygues Telecom and France Telecom-Orange have struck a deal to share fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) infrastructure across parts of France.

The partnership will see the two firms share optical fibre networks in areas of France where many people live. The move will help France Telecom-Orange to shave its deployment costs, it is understood.

It is thought Bouygues Telecom will benefit from improved network coverage in busy towns and cities by using access to the horizontal network segment of France Telecom-Orange's FTTH set up. This is the final stage of the connection which leads to the doors of buildings.

Figures show the tie up could cover as many as 1.7 million homes.

However, the agreement only goes as far as the building doors - from there Bouygues Telecom will have to either develop its own system or arrange a further sharing deal.

Another cable-sharing deal agreed between the two firms will give Bouygues access to the terminal part of France Telecom-Orange's FTTH networks. This particular agreement will cover 8.9 million homes.