Cegetel was a separate company, established in 1996 as a subsidiary of Groupe SFR Cegetel, which combined a fixed line operator (Cegetel) and a wireless operator (SFR) established in 1987. Cegetel was France's second fixed-line operator, competing directly with France Telecom. It had about 2,000 employees and was using the network operated by "Telecom Development" (TD), a joint venture of Cegetel and the French railways, SNCF. It therefore had extensive network coverage in France, with 32,000 kilometers of fiber along France's railway lines and highways, fiber loops in metropolitan centers, and points of interconnection at the local exchange level.