In order to accelerate the development of 5G, and in particular in the industrial world, the State is targeting €1.7 billion in public and private investment until 2025. The executive "will mobilise €480 million in public funding to support priority projects between now and 2022, and is aiming for up to €735 million in public funding between now and 2025 in order to mobilise, through a leverage effect, up to €1.7 billion in investments between now and 2025", said Agnès Pannier-Runacher, Minister for Industry, at a press conference on 6 July.

The problem for the government today is not to deploy 5G infrastructure but to accelerate the development of 5G use cases. In September 2020, the State has already selected 18 projects that will receive 83 million euros of public money, for a total investment of 260 million euros.

Three other projects have been announced and will receive €10 million of public money: a machine-to-machine communication (mMTC) project led by the engineering and consulting company Médiane Système, a network acceleration card from the Grenoble SME Kalray, and a building ventilation and heating control solution from another Grenoble SME, Adeunis.

The public funds will come from France Relance, the plan to support the economy after the Covid-19 crisis, and the 4th programme for future investments. The government estimates that this effort to stimulate 5G applications could create 20,000 new jobs by 2025, and bring the 5G market in France to 15 billion euros by that date.

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Source : FrenchWeb.fr

On March 9th, the European Commission unveiled its vision "for a successful digital transformation of Europe by 2030". A series of objectives to be met in less than ten years, such as the availability of all key public services on the web or the increase in skills of individuals.

5G is one of these objectives. Mobile broadband is gradually arriving on the Old Continent and Brussels wants this new technology to be available in all populated areas by 2030.

According to the European Commission, 14% of populated areas will be covered by 5G by 2021. A figure that may seem high given the very recent nature of this standard. But the wording chosen by the European executive excludes uninhabited areas, which in fact evacuates large parts of the continent from the calculation. Nine years would therefore be enough to fill the remaining 86%.

But countries are free to go faster if they wish. In France, the entire network could be in 5G by 2030. This is in any case the perspective that the former president of Arcep, Sebastien Soriano, has drawn in 2019. A first step will have to be taken in 2025, with two thirds of the population covered.

The timetable for 5G contains several appointments, depending on the imperatives of territorial planning (coverage of major transport routes and more rural areas) and the circumstances of current events (like the Summer Olympics Games in 2024). In addition, the regulator will provide additional licenses to operators to operate additional frequencies.

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Source : Numerama

Based on an October U.S. report referring to the 3.7-3.9 GHz band used by 5G, the French Civil Aviation Authority (DGAC) is concerned that the first 5G antennas could disrupt guidance systems inside aircraft. Indeed, this would create a "major risk" for aircraft radio altimeters that also rely on these frequencies. This system is the only device on board aircraft to be able to measure their distance from the ground or other obstacles. Philippe Barnola, Deputy Director at the DGAC, specifies that "Complementary technical analyses are underway to ensure the compatibility of these 5G stations with the needs of civil aviation".

And this is particularly disturbing for operators, who explain that they were informed of the problem once the frequencies were paid for. Now they fear delays in the deployment of 5G.

While operators will initially focus on city centers, they fear that they will not be able to cover more or less wide areas around airports in the future. And this could concern cities in some cases, such as those around Roissy or Orly airports.

The operators have therefore decided to write to the Secretary of State for Digital and Electronic Communications. For its part, SFR is threatening not to pay the first installment it owes the State for frequencies. While Bouygues Telecom wants to be compensated "in proportion to these new constraints".

In the office of the Secretary of State, they want to reassure themselves: "In Germany everything is going well, there is no reason why it should be any different in France". The protection zones around airports will be adapted for 5G, for example. Work has also been launched at the European level.

The same applies to the National Frequency Agency (ANFR). "In the end, there will be a delay of a few weeks or even months on a limited number of antennas near airports [...] There will be no sustainable exclusion zones. French airports have 2G, 3G and 4G. They will also have 5G."

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Source : Kulture Geek

Grégory Rabuel, CEO of SFR, announced the launch of the 5G in Nice on the evening of November 20th at BFM Business. Just over 50% of the city will be covered by this new generation mobile network.

While Montpellier, Bordeaux, Nantes, Marseille and Greater Paris will be the next cities to be covered in 5G by the operator, other municipalities are calling for a moratorium on this technology.

SFR also unveiled its commercial offers for the general public and businesses. For their part, Orange and Bouygues Telecom have communicated their offers to the general public but without announcing their coverage plan. Free talked about a launch in "the coming weeks".

While operators have been able to use their 5G frequencies since November 18th, they are still subject to administrative procedures related to technical authorizations to be filed with the ANFR and requests for information from city halls.

However, several mayors who are environmentalists or left-wing mayors, such as in Lille and Grenoble, have declared that they are in favor of a moratorium until the publication of a report from the ANSES, scheduled for spring 2021.

In the capital, the Paris council voted to create a citizens' conference on 5G, while part of the public is wary of the health and environmental effects of electromagnetic waves.

Even though 5G promises to offer up to 10 times faster throughput in the long term; above all, operators are counting on its launch to manage the increase in traffic and avoid saturation of their mobile networks.

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Source : Le Parisien