YOU ARE AT:5GFrance issues call for 5G trials in the 26 GHz band

France issues call for 5G trials in the 26 GHz band

The companies securing trial spectrum will be authorised to use 26 GHz frequencies for up to three years

The French government, together with the country’s Electronic Communications and Postal Regulatory Authority (Arcep), are issuing a call for the creation of 5G trial platforms in the 26 GHz band, which are open to third parties.

The government said that the main aim of the initiative is to enable all of the markets’ stakeholders to seize the opportunities being opened up by this frequency band, and to identify new use cases enabled by these frequencies.

This call is aimed at market players wanting to obtain 26 GHz frequencies to create open trial platforms using small-scale 5G networks and to open these platforms up to third parties;

Arcep highlighted that the 26 GHz band was identified by the Radio Spectrum Policy Group (RSPG) as the pioneer 5G band in Europe. The French government and Arcep are also eager to foster testing of these frequencies in real-life situations as bands have never been used for mobile networks up to now.

By providing innovative tech and service companies with access to these trial platforms, the Government and Arcep aim to remove two impediments to innovation: cost and having the technical skills needed to install these networks, notably for those players that are the least familiar with telecommunications,” Arcep said in a statement. “This use case testing is geared to allowing the French ecosystem to mature by having advance access to this frequency band. It will also deliver initial feedback for identifying the various types of innovative uses.”

In exchange for making their infrastructures available to third parties, the companies securing trial spectrum will be authorised to use 26 GHz frequencies for a period of up to three years. Additionally, the 5G pilot platforms created under the scheme will be subject to a favourable regulatory framework, with reduced obligations for those carrying out tests.

The Government and Arcep will also be carrying out an inventory of future 5G use cases amongst innovative companies.

The application procedures for these trials will be open from 31 January to 31 March 2019, Arcep said.

In related news, the French secretary of state responsible for the telecom sector, Agnes Pannier-Runacher, told local newspaper Le Figaro that the forthcoming 5G spectrum award will be completed in early 2020. Arcep is expected to set out the terms of the auction in autumn.

ABOUT AUTHOR

Juan Pedro Tomás
Juan Pedro Tomás
Juan Pedro covers Global Carriers and Global Enterprise IoT. Prior to RCR, Juan Pedro worked for Business News Americas, covering telecoms and IT news in the Latin American markets. He also worked for Telecompaper as their Regional Editor for Latin America and Asia/Pacific. Juan Pedro has also contributed to Latin Trade magazine as the publication's correspondent in Argentina and with political risk consultancy firm Exclusive Analysis, writing reports and providing political and economic information from certain Latin American markets. He has a degree in International Relations and a master in Journalism and is married with two kids.