Orange recently announced the launch of its 5G network in 15 French municipalities, as of 3 December, 2020, including Nice, Marseille, Le Mans, Angers and Clermont Ferrand.
By the end of the year, more than 160 municipalities will be covered with 5G. This 3.5GHz 5G launch brings speeds up to three to four times faster than 4G to meet changing customer needs. Only 3.5GHz frequencies allow a true 5G experience. Orange is thus fulfilling its role of a leading operator by providing the best possible support for the evolution of French consumption patterns, allowing them to benefit from the best possible network quality, even in the densest areas. By contributing to the digitisation of French companies, 5G will also be a powerful lever for competitiveness, thanks to, among other things, connected objects and artificial intelligence. 5G, deployed in 3.5GHz frequency bands, allows for real browsing comfort, reduced latency and almost instantaneous download speeds, even on the move.
A gradual deployment of the 5G network On 1 October, during the auction, Orange obtained the largest share of the frequency blocks involved, with 90 MHz of spectrum. This deployment focuses mainly on these new 3.5GHz frequencies and may be supplemented by the use of 2.1GHz frequencies.
Orange is continuing its efforts in parallel in the deployment of 4G, with an objective of switching 100% of Orange sites to 4G by the end of 2020. 5G, an asset of the energy transition 5G is the first mobile standard that integrates the optimisation of energy consumption into its design. A key element of this increased efficiency is that the antennas activate only on-demand, that is to say, they only transmit in the direction of the devices, only when they are needed.
Stéphane Richard, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the group
This new technology is a breakthrough innovation that will allow all of our customers, both individuals and businesses to benefit from unprecedented quality of service and to develop new uses. The deployment will be done gradually and in a constructive dialogue with all local authorities, in parallel with our efforts to expand coverage of the French territory in 4G.
