Telecom regulator Arcep said it plans to launch a consultation process next month
French telecoms regulator Arcep said a tender to award mobile frequencies for the provision of 5G services could take place by mid-2019, French press reported.
“We are going to launch a consultation in October to define the terms for awarding 5G frequencies to the operators. The tender could take place in about a year, towards mid-2019,” newspaper Le Tribune quoted Arcep chairman Sebastien Soriano as saying.
In July, the French government said it expects at least one major city to have commercial 5G services by 2020 as one of the key initiatives of the country’s 5G roadmap.
This follows through on the agreement reached between the government, telecom regulator Arcep and mobile operators on January 14, aimed at rapidly achieving a high standard of coverage across the whole of France, by stepping up the pace of 4G rollouts.
The roadmap sets a number of targets, including the launch of several 5G pilot projects in a variety of regions, and hosting some of the world’s pioneer industrial 5G applications; allocating new 5G frequencies and providing 5G coverage of the main transport routes by 2025.
In January this year, Arcep had announced it was planning to issue temporary frequency authorizations to develop 5G pilots in France. The regulator said it will offer spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band (3400 – 3800 MHz) in the metropolitan areas of Lyon, Bordeaux, Nantes, Lille, Le Havre, Saint-Étienne, Douai, Montpellier and Grenoble.
These initial 5G trials will allow Arcep to obtain initial feedback on the use of 5G networks. With the information obtained from future 5G trials, the regulator said it will pave the way for the allocation procedure for future 5G licenses.
In July, local telecom operators Orange and Bouygues Telecom announced new developments in their respective 5G test programs, announcing new trials in new locations.
Following tests in the cities of Lille and Douai, Orange announced plans to launch 5G tests in Marseille, after receiving approval from Arcep to use the 3.7-3.8 GHz band. Orange also announced plans to extend 5G tests to greater Paris area and Île-de-France. The telco named Paris, Châtillon and Linas-Montlhéry as the next zones to host Orange’s new 5G tests. In Paris, Orange expects to introduce a platform designed for 5G demonstrations in the Opéra district where its Orange Opéra megastore is located. This 5G test will take place next year, the telco said.
Fixed wireless access technology will be the main driver of Orange’s 5G rollout, the group’s SVP of quality operations and performance Roberto Kung said in a keynote presentation during Huawei Operational Transformation Forum 2018.
Meanwhile, Bouygues Telecom said it has completed what it claimed to be France’s first 5G pilot under real-world conditions. In partnership with Chinese vendor Huawei, the telco conducted various tests in Bordeaux. The tests saw a peak downlink speed of 2.3 Gbps and latency as low as 7.5 milliseconds. Bouygues said the test was based on non-standalone (NSA) 5G technology.
