(Auto-translated from French)
05/10/2021
The National Frequency Agency (ANFR) updated its monthly observatory of mobile network deployments as well as Cartoradio.fr, a cartographic platform which lists all the radio sites authorized on French territory.
On 1 st October ANFR authorized a total of 58,593 mobile network sites in France, all generations (+ 224 over the month of September).
29,327 5G sites have been authorized by the ANFR in metropolitan France, of which 17,689 have been declared technically operational 1 by the mobile telephone operators. Almost all of these 5G installations have been authorized on existing sites, already used by 2G, 3G or 4G technologies. Only 3 sites only host 5G.
In September, authorized 5G sites therefore increased by 1.8%.
According to operator statements, 63.7% of authorized sites are technically operational.
In France, three frequency bands currently make it possible to provide a 5G service:
- 18,392 5G sites are authorized in the 700 MHz band (Free Mobile), of which 12,079 are declared technically operational;
- 10,645 5G sites are authorized in the 2,100 MHz band (Bouygues Telecom, Orange, SFR and Outremer Telecom), of which 5,622 are declared technically operational;
- 12,462 5G sites are authorized in the new 3.5 GHz band (Bouygues Telecom, Free Mobile, Orange and SFR), of which 6,555 are declared technically operational.