Cellnex plans to turn La Defense esplanade into an experimental area for companies wishing to test 5G use cases
Paris La Defense has selected Cellnex France as partner to run a 5G mmWave trial at 26 GHz in the French business district.
In a release, Cellnex noted that this project aims to test the feasibility of a neutral-host model allowing the sharing of antennas and infrastructure, as well as to experiment with new use cases leveraging the high-speed 26 GHz 5G deployed in La Défense district.
The firm also noted that mobile operators and digital ecosystem companies are invited to join Cellnex and its partners in the execution of this project. Some of the firms participating in this initiative includes Efficacity, Equans and Siradel.
Cellnex said that, together with Paris La Défense, it plans to turn La Défense esplanade into an experimental area for companies wishing to test use cases.
Vincent Cuvillier, CEO of Cellnex France, said: “This is a wonderful opportunity to test new use cases, in real conditions, such as virtual and augmented reality with ultra-high-definition video, IoT, autonomous vehicles, and many others, as well as proving additional network capacity during public events with thousands of attendees. Interested companies including startups are also welcome to join us today.”
Cellnex also said that another reason for the deployment of 5G mmWave in Paris La Défense is to demonstrate the relevance of the neutral-host model with sharing of antennas and infrastructure.
“Relying on a neutral host operator like Cellnex, as we are doing here in Paris La Defense, makes it possible to limit the impact of deployment – fewer antennas – to greatly optimize the cost while also guaranteeing all operators optimal turnkey access,” Cuvillier added.
La Defense is a major business district located 3 kilometers west of the city limits of Paris. It is part of the Paris metropolitan area and is Europe’s largest purpose-built business district, covering 560 hectares.
Cellnex manages a portfolio of more than 138,000 sites – including forecast roll-outs up to 2030 – in Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Portugal, Austria, Denmark, Sweden and Poland.
