It is clear that white areas are not limited to rural deserts. They also concern tourist areas that are very popular in the summer with cyclists, hikers and coastal travellers.

In the Luberon, if optical fibre has arrived in Isle sur la Sorgue or Maubec, ADSL is particularly anaemic in Gordes, and 4G is almost absent. The various local players are suffering from the disinvestment of the main operators and the public authorities. The latter are struggling to impose a minimum service for services that are now essential at a time when administrative procedures are being dematerialised.

If digital technology is on everyone's lips today, once you leave the urban areas, you are in digital poverty with a two-speed France.

In a report published on 16 January 2020, the former rights defender Jacques Toubon stated that "in municipalities with fewer than 1,000 inhabitants, more than a third of the inhabitants do not have access to quality Internet, which represents nearly 75% of municipalities in France and 15% of the population". Fortunately, alternative Internet service providers and digital development companies are helping rural communities. They are setting up small-scale radio networks accessible to individuals and small businesses. These are essential local initiatives, as the France Très Haut Débit plan, launched in 2013, and the New Deal Mobile, launched in 2018, are struggling to eradicate the digital divide and ensure equal access to the Internet for all French people.

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Source : Le Monde Informatique

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

The Arcep, by putting an end to the call for tenders for 5G frequencies, has just delivered the positioning of operators on the 3.5 GHz band.

Only Free will have spent 3 million euros to secure a central position in the 5G "queen band". Iliad's French subsidiary will have access to 70 MHz of frequencies on a block ranging from 3.64 GHz to 3.71 GHz.

In detail, SFR will have 80 MHz of frequencies on a block ranging from 3.49 GHz to 3.57 GHz, while the 70 MHz of frequencies held by Bouygues Telecom will be located between 3.57 GHz and 3.64 GHz. Finally, Orange, which holds the largest block of frequencies, with 90 MHz of 5G frequencies, will have a block ranging from 3.71 GHz to 3.80 GHz.

During this second phase of the auction, the operators have disbursed a total of 2.78 billion euros. Bouygues Telecom paid 602 million euros to acquire 70 MHz of frequencies in the 3.5 GHz band, as did Free, which added 3 million euros to this sum to benefit from the positioning of its choice. For its part, SFR invested 728 million euros to get its hands on 80 MHz of frequencies, while Orange spent 854 million euros to get its hands on 90 MHz of frequencies in the 3.5 GHz band.

350 million spent by each operator to purchase fixed 50 MHz blocks will be reimbursed "in 15 equal parts over 15 years, the first part upon the award of the frequency license and the other 14 parts on the anniversary date of the award".

The amounts paid by the operators during the auction and positioning phase will be repayable "in four equal parts payable over four years, the first as soon as the authorization to use the frequencies is granted and the other three on the anniversary date of the grant".

"In addition to these sums, a variable annual portion equal to 1% of the revenues generated by the operation of these frequencies will be added to these amounts," said the telecom police officer.

The frequencies will be officially delivered by the Arcep as of November 18th. But operators will still have to wait for the ANFR's approval before they can market their first 5G offers to the general public and professionals, which should take about 10 additional days.

Concerning the marketing of 5G packages, the operators have not yet made their strategies known. In any case, they will have to wait for the approval of the municipalities to officially launch the 5G era among users. If patience is therefore required, operators are already beginning the major maneuvers to lower the cost of their 5G infrastructure.

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Source : ZDNet

On October 23rd, the Arcep validated an amendment to the roaming contract that already bound the two operators. Free will thus be able to use Orange's 2G and 3G networks for its own commercial offers until December 31, 2022 instead of December 31, 2020. This is despite criticism from SFR, Bouygues Telecom or other alternative operators grouped within the Alternative Telecom association.

To justify its delay in deploying its own 2G and 3G infrastructures, the operator founded by Xavier Niel denounced the mutualization of networks signed in 2014 by Bouygues Telecom and SFR, the reinforced 4G deployment obligations imposed by the New Mobile Deal, and the lack of frequencies.

This argument hit the nail on the head with the Arcep, which nevertheless maintained the cap on the maximum upload and download speeds achievable by roaming customers at 384 kbits.

Even if the Arcep assures that it will "remain attentive to the continued investment by Free Mobile in the deployment of its own networks", this is not enough to calm the criticism of those opposed to this extension.

Starting with the management of SFR, for whom "ten years after obtaining its 3G license, this roaming agreement granted to Free Mobile is only the admission of a crying lack of investment by Free Mobile during all these years".

For its part, Bouygues Telecom points out that "roaming was designed from the outset as a transitional measure, with the sole aim of enabling the new entrant to compensate for its late entry into the market". However, "Free can no longer be described as a new entrant in the mobile telephony market" and "now has a network that is broadly comparable to that of its competitors, and therefore quite sufficient to enable it to compete vigorously" in the mobile market."

Alternative operators point out that the license granted to Free Mobile by the authorities was awarded "in exchange for ambitious commitments to stimulate competition".

These criticisms did not prevent the extension of the roaming agreement between Free and Orange. Even if Free's management is now tending to catch up in terms of deployment, it is not certain that this will be enough to calm the slings and arrows of its competitors. Especially since the recent statements of Orange's CEO concerning a possible mutualization of the two operators' 5G networks should not help to pacify the debate.

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Source : ZDNet

The telecoms regulator has published a new timetable for the continuation of the 5G frequency allocation procedure in the 3.5 GHz band. It will therefore be between September 20th and 30th.  Bouygues Telecom, Free, Orange and SFR, which qualified last February following a call for applications, will participate.

At the end of the procedure, they will each obtain a 50 GHz block in return for 350 million euros per head and a number of deployment obligations. In early autumn, the main auction will allow them to complete this first block by winning one or more 10 GHz blocks. This will be followed by an auction to position the resulting frequencies in the 3.4-3.8 GHz section. The Arcep indicates that the final allocation of frequencies will take place "in October or November". Operators will thus be able to market their future 5G packages "by the end of the year".

However, in the end, operators will not be obliged to provide 5G coverage in at least two major cities before the end of 2020. The delay in the procedure has led the telecoms police to lift this obligation accompanying the first 50GHz block. The marketing will be done "at the initiative of the operators" even if the Arcep promises to remain attentive to the conditions of marketing of the new network and the promises of the operators.

The first obligation will therefore be to deploy 5G on at least 3,000 of their sites by the end of 2022. Operators will also have to distilled at least 240 Mb/s on 75 % of their sites into 4G+ by the same deadline.

This is a reminder that the specifications have been drawn up so that the deployment of 5G and 4G coverage of territories go hand in hand. It is also a response to Bouygues Telecom and SFR, who recently balanced the deployment of the 5th generation network against the need to improve 4G coverage in rural areas.

At the same time, Arcep also intends to respond to growing concerns about the environmental impact of digital technology. Within the framework of a new platform called "for a sustainable digital environment", "associations, institutions, operators, digital companies, personalities" are invited to contribute to it during a series of thematic workshops starting on July 9th.

A report by the end of the year will provide an opportunity to take stock of this work and will propose the "first avenues for taking the response to environmental issues further", which the Authority intends to make a "new chapter in regulation".

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Source : DegroupNews

While the 4G deployment figures had remained within the norm in March and April 2020, the stall finally occurred in May. 330 new sites brought into service by Orange, SFR, Bouygues Telecom and Free according to data from the French National Frequencies Agency. The figure is relatively low but remains higher than last February or spring-summer 2019.

Nevertheless, the breakdown by operator shows a significant slowdown on the part of Orange and Free. The locomotives of the deployment over the past year respectively brought 154 and 230 new 4G sites into service in May, well below the pace observed in recent months. This slowdown cannot help but be associated with the health crisis. Operators have reported various difficulties during containment.

What's more, the number of new activated antennas is down 20 to 50% compared to the previous month at Free and Orange. Antenna activations on their current flagship bands have reached the lowest levels seen in a long time, 18 to 24 months in some cases.

There was also a general decline in the number of authorizations obtained by Free and 4G in 700 MHz. The number of authorizations received by Iliad's brand in this band, which has usually fluctuated between 500 and 1,000 per month for the past year, plunged to less than 200 in May.

At first glance, SFR and Bouygues Telecom appear to have been less affected by the disruptions despite a decline in activations and authorizations on several frequency bands. However, it is difficult to draw conclusions from this, as the pace of deployment of these two operators has been irregular for several months. It should be noted that only SFR seems to have felt the need to make extensive use of the derogatory mechanism put in place by the State to ensure the continuity of deployments, on 58 occasions.

With 155 new 4G media in service, Bouygues Telecom achieved its best month since December in May. In terms of antennas too, the operator set a six-month record: 556 more in May. Of these, 313 were in the 1,800 MHz frequency band, notably to serve a number of major cities (Paris, Lille), several major roads and seaside resorts, according to ANFR.

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Source : DegroupNews

Margrethe Vestager, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of digital technologies, is reported to have called the European telecoms ministers to order so that the allocation of the 5G spectrum does not fall too far behind schedule.

The EU's current objectives in this area, set for 2016, are to bring 5G to market in at least one major city in each EU country by the end of 2020, as well as in all urban areas and major transport axes by 2025.

The Vice-President's intervention would follow a request from Croatia to review this action plan and timetable.

Many countries, including Spain, Austria, Portugal, Poland and the Czech Republic, have still not allocated their first 5G frequencies. Procedures have been postponed due to the pandemic and subsequent containment measures.

In France, auctions are expected to be postponed until September at the latest for a subsequent deployment. Commercialization is therefore possible this fall.

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Source : 01net

Whether through the development of teleworking, videoconferencing or recreational uses, the French are making greater use of the various telecommunications networks, both fixed and mobile, during this period. But the situation seems to be under control in France.

In an interview by Les Dernières Nouvelles D'Alsace, Arthur Dreyfuss, President of the French Telecom Federation, explains: "We have seen an unprecedented increase in the number of connections from the very first hours and this is maintained throughout the confinement. [...] The need for telecoms networks is vital for work, entertainment and information."

And according to him, France is doing better than some of its neighbours. "But unlike other European countries, the networks in France hold, and help to ensure the country's continuity. [...] This is because operators have invested 20 billion in two years in infrastructure and they are collectively committed during this period."

He also points out that "despite the difficulties related to containment, technicians are working hard to meet the commitments, continuing deployments to bring new connections into service, in particular the antennas on the 140 mobile sites that are being pooled under construction. But we are facing many operational difficulties related to the crisis, which are obviously causing us to fall behind".

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Source : Univers Freebox

A saturation of the Internet networks was mentioned several times at the beginning of the containment. A risk that is globally non-existent except locally on over-solicited mobile antennas. This is what nPerf has just revealed in a study specially dedicated to the impact of containment on Internet speeds. The specialist in connection evaluation thus observes a slight drop in performance on mobile networks, but that of fixed connections has not weakened.

Indeed, mobile networks in residential areas were not really designed to handle the extra traffic overnight. They were used much more than in normal times, and the fact that all residents shared the same antenna meant that they were unable to deliver their usual performance.

A 10% drop in average flow rates, i.e. 4 Mb/s, was observed on average over the end of March. Accompanied by a drop in browsing performance, notably at Orange and Free, while streaming remained stable. Despite this, nPerf believes that the overall picture remains "very acceptable" for the four operators.

On the other hand, confinement has not really had a negative impact on fixed Internet speeds. According to the tests compiled, the overall situation even tended to improve at the end of March. This is the case at Bouygues Telecom, SFR and Orange, with the exception of Free.

Fiber Internet speeds remained stable overall at Orange and Free. For its part, SFR has posted steady growth since the beginning of the year, which has not been contradicted despite the containment. Bouygues Telecom's Internet bandwidths also increased at the end of the quarter.

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Source : Ariase

Even though its network had not yet been built, Free Mobile was able to play a real role as the fourth largest telecoms operator on the French market as soon as it arrived in 2012. How did this happen? Thanks to the 2G / 3G roaming agreement negotiated with Orange.

An agreement validated by the Arcep on the condition that it is only temporary. Roaming between Orange and Free was therefore scheduled to end at the end of 2020 but both operators have just requested an extension until the end of 2022.

On February 24th, the Arcep indicated that it had received an amendment announcing an extension until December 31, 2022. This amendment is justified by "the impossibility for Free Mobile to catch up with the market coverage standard which has increased significantly with the Crozon mutualisation agreement and the New Deal obligations despite a very proactive deployment".

Free also points to the need for 2G coverage in order to maintain a certain number of subscribers in 2G but without having the resources to deploy a network. In addition, the other operators maintain 2G as a "fallback technology in certain situations, particularly indoors at peak times".

This news is not going to be well received by Bouygues Telecom and SFR. Indeed, they have constantly denounced the roaming agreement between their competitors, considering it to be a competitive advantage for Free.

SFR's representatives are already castigating Free's decision to distribute dividends and to try to prolong the agreement instead of investing in its networks.

SFR and Bouygues Telecom have announced the suspension of the payment of dividends, but this is also in order to benefit from government aid linked to the short-time working of some of the staff.

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Source : Génération NT

The data published by the National Frequency Agency for the month of March shows that the health crisis has not really had a visible impact in figures on the deployment of 4G.

In fact, as of April 1st, ANFR recorded a 1% increase in requests for authorizations and activation of 4G sites from one month to the next. This is the usual rate, but the restrictions were not put in place until mid-March and there may be a delay between the installation of an antenna and its activation.

The impact is likely to be observable in the data for the coming months as operators are now giving priority to the maintenance and resizing of their networks. The objective is to cope with the high demand on the networks - voice and data - and the new geographical situation brought about by confinement.

The emergency law voted to deal with the consequences of the coronavirus epidemic includes a digital infrastructure component for mobile operators. They will be able to use a "simplified procedure for sites that will ensure continuity of service". However, this initiative is too recent to be included in the March report, as "the request for authorisation of sites authorised on 1 April was received before this system was applicable", explains the ANFR.

Orange was the most dynamic in March, with 350 new sites, followed by SFR (276), Free (251) and Bouygues Telecom (83). The incumbent operator maintained its leadership in terms of the number of 4G sites operated (21,830), ahead of SFR (19,000), Bouygues Telecom (18,188) and Free (15,586).

The situation is slightly different in terms of the number of activated antennas. Orange is also the leader here with 1,481 new activations. But it is Free that we find behind with 1,016 activated antennas. Activity was significantly less intense in March at SFR (553) and Bouygues Telecom (352).

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Source : DegroupNews

On December 17th last, Arcep announced that it had agreed with the authorities on the specifications for the future 5G call for tenders. To afford the first 50 MHz blocks in the 3.5 GHz band, each operator will have to pay the fixed sum of 350 million euros but also meet the various commitments set by the authorities.

The remaining 110 MHz, in the band concerned, will be auctioned in blocks of 10 MHz. The starting price for the latter was set at €70 million. However, this should not be the business of operators. Indeed, they were campaigning for the authority not to set too high amounts in order to allow them to invest more heavily in the deployment of their future 5G networks.

The authorities should therefore obtain from this call for tenders, at least, a total sum of "2.17 billion euros for all the frequencies allocated". However, they have not been greedy in the light of the various 5G auctions organised by our neighbours, such as in Germany or Italy.

The specifications should be published in the coming days and will officially launch the award procedure conducted by Arcep. Candidate operators will then have eight weeks to prepare their application files.

Applicants will not be able to obtain less than 40 MHz of frequencies and will therefore not be able to obtain more than 100 MHz of frequencies in the 3.5 GHz band. The frequencies will be allocated for a period of 15 years and may be extended for a further 5 years if there is a subsequent agreement between the authorities and the operators concerned.

The examination of the applications submitted by the candidates should start in March. The Arcep will make its arbitrations and allocate the first fixed blocks of 5G frequencies at the end of March. The actual auctions will take place in May, while the procedure will be finalised in June.

However, the obligations on operators will not change. As initially planned by Arcep, the specifications provide for the opening of 5G in at least two cities per operator before the end of 2020. Subsequently, operators will be forced to deploy their services on 3,000 sites in 2022, 8,000 sites in 2024 and finally 10,500 sites in 2025.

But let's not forget the rural areas. Thus, 25% of the sites in the 3.5 GHz band "of the last two milestones will have to be deployed in an area bringing together municipalities in sparsely populated areas and those in industrial areas, outside the main urban areas", Arcep said.

The Authority also states that "from 2022 onwards, at least 75% of the sites must have a throughput of at least 240 Mbit/s at each site. This obligation will gradually be extended to all sites until 2030".

In addition, as provided for in European texts, roads are also a priority. Coverage of motorway-type roads will thus have to be ensured in 2025, before coverage of the main roads is planned for 2027.

Operators will also have to undertake to respond to "reasonable" requests from companies and public authorities, in order to provide them with "appropriate offers with coverage and performance, or, if the operator prefers, by entrusting them with its frequencies locally".

The authorities are demanding more cooperation between operators in order to ensure better indoor coverage of buildings and to ensure greater transparency on their deployment forecasts and breakdowns. Finally, operators will also have to undertake to welcome MVNOs to their respective networks "in order in particular to encourage innovation by all actors in the sector".

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Source : ZDNet

On Tuesday 24th, September 2013, from 9:00 am to 12:00, Sogeti and LexCase organise a legal and technical meeting concerning integrated mobile devices for your SI (BYOD or COPE).

This morning meeting will deal with:

• How to serenly authorise to your partners connection to your SI with their own cell phone (technical impacts ? juridical impacts ? HR impact ?).

• How to adapt your IT policy so that it is consistent with BYOD approach ?

• How to integrate different mobile terminal so that it won't be a security default in       your SI ?

Invitation programme are available here: http://goo.gl/REj9xS

Online subscription: http://goo.gl/VSTK3a