French mobile operator, Orange announces that it has obtained two blocks of 5MHz, or a total of 10Mhz, in the 700Mhz band in a spectrum auction in France, with a consideration of 932 million euros.
With over 90MHz of spectrum in total, Orange said that it is strengthening its leadership position by holding the French market’s largest spectrum portfolio. Following the attribution of this new set of frequencies, Orange will be the only operator in France to hold 30MHz of low-range “golden” frequencies. These low-range frequencies, that are notable for their excellent propagation properties, will play a crucial role in the implementation of the Group’s Essentiels 2020 strategic plan by enabling Orange to provide an outstanding customer experience at a time of exponential growth in network traffic.
According to Orange, the 700MHz frequencies will be used in particular to reinforce the capacity and speed of the Group’s very high-speed mobile broadband network, particularly indoors and in rural areas, and to prepare for the introduction of 5G once this technology is available.
