On March 31, 2022, Arcep (the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications, Posts and Press Distribution) published an inventory of the deployment of 5G in France.
Free Mobile takes off with the low frequency bands
Where are the 5G deployments at the national level and in each of the regions? This is the question Arcep is trying to answer with this report. The French agency specifies that the sites can be in three different “states”. There are websites “allowed”, those that host a mobile station that has received ANFR installation approval and is therefore authorized to transmit. The sites “technically operational”, those emitting radio waves, thus generating exposure to the waves and potentially interference. Finally, there are those who are “commercially open”. These are sites that provide, through the use of all or part of the licensee’s frequencies, open access to the public provided by mobile network equipment.
Brussels examines Microsoft’s dominant position in the cloud field
In mainland France, the four operators are progressing. To date, Free Mobile has 13,470 sites open commerciallycompared to 6,730 for Bouygues Telecom, 4,984 for SFR and ” only “ 3,035 for Orange. We see that the French operators do not have the same strategies at all. If Free Mobile is still betting on low frequencies between 700 and 800 MHz. While Bouygues Telecom relies heavily on the medium frequency bands which range from 1800 to 2100 MHz. SFR is the operator with the most high frequency bands at 3,500 MHz, but the other three operators are right behind on this slot, as you can see on this graph.
When we compare these figures with those of last year, we see the evolution of 5G sites in France. In February 2021, Bouygues Telecom had 1,885 open sites, 6,273 for Free Mobile, while SFR and Orange only had 869 and 953.
Evolution of 5G installations in France. Image: Arcep
5G sites open mainly in the West of France
Regarding the geographical distribution, we note that the four operators have adopted almost the same strategy. The big cities are their priority and the Île-de-France region is far ahead of the rest of the other regions. Operators have chosen to open their first sites in urban areas from Paris, Lyon, Lille, Marseille, Nice, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Nantes, Rennes or even Rouen. We observe that the North-East quarter is particularly neglected by operators who have instead chosen to set up their sites in the West of France.
Geographical distribution of 5G sites open in France. Image: Arcep
Arcep specifies that “the data represented in this document correspond to the mobile network sites of each operator open commercially and equipped with 5G and 4G/4G+ technologies (module 4)”. Specifically, these are sites that provide a service to a consumer userequipped with a commercial SIM from the operator and a compatible terminal.