Modernity meets History: Château de La Vigne Gains a High-Speed Optical Network

Dating back to the 15th century and located in Ally, in the Cantal department of central France, Château de La Vigne is a medieval castle, reminiscent of Victor Hugo's work, which was marked by his taste for medieval Romanticism. Its solid stone walls have stories to tell and, over the centuries, the castle has gradually developed a unique architectural style, having undergone multiple extensions and embellishments.

Today, Château de La Vigne is a historic monument open to the public as a tourist attraction, providing guests with a range of services, from guided tours to accommodation, according to its manager, Clotilde de Lassus Saint-Geniès.

However, the castle's visitors now expect much more than ever before, namely fast Internet access that's available everywhere. However, implementing reliable network connections at such an historic site is far from easy.

However, thanks to the innovative cooperation between Huawei and telecommunications provider Orange Business, Château de La Vigne has become the world's first castle with high-speed optical connectivity, setting a new benchmark for the digital upgrade of similarly historic sites.

Unique Challenges: Thick Walls and Historical Protection

Château de La Vigne is built from solid volcanic stone, complete with towers and Gothic windows. The interior still retains a large number of original, features, from murals and intricate wooden paneling to finely carved fireplaces.

Georges-Henri du Fayet de La Tour, Territorial Delegate for Cantal Historic Residences, points out that network deployment in most historic sites has to start from the ground up, but Château de La Vigne faced particularly unique deployment challenges.

Due to its thick walls and complex structure, conventional networking solutions would have struggled to deliver reliable Wi-Fi connectivity across the entire castle. But a solution still had to be found because a lack of consistent network connectivity would negatively impact the work efficiency of staff and deliver a poor experience to visitors.

In addition, the strict laws and regulations in place only increased network construction difficulties. With many sections of the castle listed and protected, and with certain walls and wood paneling classified, conventional network construction work, from drilling holes to installing conduits, was simply not allowed.

An Innovative Solution: High-Speed Fiber Network

To overcome these difficulties, Château de La Vigne chose Huawei's Fiber to the Room (FTTR) solution, which, according to Georges-Henri du Fayet de La Tour, is well suited to the unique requirements of historic castles.

A high-performance network: This solution brings an ultra-high-speed Wi-Fi experience, using optical fibers to avoid the signal loss caused by conventional mesh networking. This design enables full Wi-Fi coverage across the entire castle without coverage holes, supporting a maximum of 17 Wi-Fi hotspots in a single room. Huawei's unique multi-beam polarized smart antennas improve Wi-Fi coverage by 50% compared with a mesh solution, achieving smooth and stable connections for videoconferencing, streaming, and other bandwidth-hungry services.

An invisible design:FTTR optical fibers are both thin and transparent. They are easily integrated into a building's environment with minimal impact on the original architectural style. Simplified deployment does not require any physical modifications to be made, either, preserving the original style of the castle and slashing deployment time.

Green and low-carbon: All-optical connections are the most environmentally friendly digital infrastructure available, offering the lowest carbon emissions. All devices in the solution comply with the European CoC v8 standards, reducing energy consumption by 30% compared with similar products in the industry. In addition, Huawei's Optical Network Terminals (ONTs) support a unique five-dimensional energy-saving mode — frequency, antenna, system, chip, and port — which can be intelligently adjusted as required to ensure a high level of network performance and significant energy savings. For example, in sleep mode, energy consumption and radiation fall by 60% and 90%, respectively.

Extended functions: The castle's network upgrade has also allowed managers to think more broadly on other issues, such as improving the security of the castle through networked cameras and developing immersive digital attractions for visitors.

Future Vision: The Integration of Technology and History

Serge Léo, the Technical Director of the Connectivity Business Unit (Île-de-France) for Orange Business and its National Production Director, said: "To complete this challenging project, we worked with Huawei to develop a systematic solution to assess complex environments through preliminary coverage audits. Using specialized equipment, we measured the number of required devices and pinpointed the best installation locations to ensure optimal network coverage without damaging the building structure."

"Today, we are proud to announce that Château de La Vigne is equipped with the world's first high-speed optical network for castles." Ning Pauget He, Account Director for Orange Business at Huawei France, added. "This project fully demonstrates how modern technology serves the preservation of cultural heritage while respecting history. We hope that this success story will inspire numerous additional projects within historic monuments. I firmly believe that, with Orange Business's expertise, we can address the needs and expectations of managers and property owners effectively, to set a new benchmark for the in-depth integration of technology and history."

This cooperation not only gives Château de La Vigne new vigor and vitality, but also provides important inspiration for the preservation and digital exploration of similar historical sites around the world.