Question 14084 — businesses

Summary

Mr. Éric Bothorel draws the attention of the Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industrial, Energy and Digital Sovereignty to the support that has been provided to the company Obvios, through funding provided to B-Com, the Technological Research Institute of Rennes. Obvios was created in 2023 and employs 42 employees in Lannion and Rennes. Sovereign 5G was a strategic solution and the State was therefore at the meeting, particularly as part of the national acceleration strategy for 5G and the networks of the future. The State was the only real and constant financier of the Obvios project. He had demanded a shareholders' pact, which was notably to mobilize the members of B-Com to the tune of 9 million euros which was not fulfilled. Orange and Airbus had made purchasing commitments of 20 million euros over five years, concomitantly with the preparation of an Important Project of Common European Interest (PIIEC). The IPCEI was obtained and the commitments went up in smoke. It seems that Obvios has kept all its commitments to B-Com, particularly financial. On the other hand, conversely, B-Com's commitments seem increasingly nebulous. Since then, we have announced the holding of an imminent social economic committee, but postponed from week to week, to announce either a sale, or a closure, with layoffs at stake. Employee resignations keep coming, the rare contracts obtained are being canceled and there is more talk about B-Com and Obvios in the legal section than in the technology pages of the newspapers. The MP has been aware of this for several weeks, without the leaders of Obvios or B-Com talking to him about it. The MP tried to contact them and got this confirmation. By the press. He is surprised by this low-noise procedure. The mobilizations were louder to ask him to support the requests for public funding and then payment of the substantial subsidies obtained. State support of more than 11 million euros was not lacking. This support from the State should make it possible to continue the development and deployment of the Dome solution, the heart of the 5G private network, in within the Obvios spin-off, a pioneer in the development of sovereign software, provided IRT B-Com. Thanks to the support of France 2030, the IRT had the necessary resources to finalize the development and market sovereign and secure connectivity solutions, strategic for national competitiveness. It seems to indicate that Obvios would not have found its market. However, it remains a priority to have a sovereign technology in this area. We cannot help but also think that the incessant questions of governance must not have made things easier. Management appointments and temporary staff are transferred, with no guarantee over the long term. And if today Obvios seems to be an autonomous company, in fact, it is under the total supervision of B-Com. It is therefore with concern that the MP questions the Minister about the future of Obvios. He has the feeling that the answer lies more in Rennes than in Lannion or Paris. A takeover of the company or a takeover of the technical assets would be studied. In any case, it is time to open the hood and measure the real use of the more than 20 million euros, at least, of public funding that has been mobilized. And to ensure that a takeover by a third party of these assets is not a de facto misappropriation of funds contributed to Obvios. Lannion remains a land of excellence and innovation, the MP knows the common mobilization to ensure that jobs remain in the region, in Obvios or elsewhere. He wants to know his position on the subject.

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