What is the 5G frequency allocation process in France?
On April 2, 2020, Arcep announced the qualification of the four mobile operators—Bouygues Telecom, Free Mobile, Orange, and SFR—as candidates for the allocation of frequencies in the 3.4-3.8 GHz band, also known as the 3.5 GHz band. They made commitments that will allow each of them to obtain, at the end of the procedure and for a total of €350 million, a 50 MHz block.
On September 29, 2020, the four candidates were authorized to participate in the main auction for the allocation of the 11 10 MHz blocks still available in the 3.5 GHz band. The reserve price determined by the Government is 70 million euros per 10 MHz block.
The auction closed on October 1, 2020, with a unit price of €126 million for a 10 MHz block.
Commercial availability of 5G then took place at the end of 2020. Operators are offering the first commercial services in the 3.5 GHz band. The deployment of 5G equipment in this band will be gradual, over several years.
The allocation of new frequencies is a distinct issue from the technological leap, such as the arrival of 4G.
Like 4G in its time, 5G was designed to use multiple bands and combine the advantages of "low" (below 1 GHz, such as the 700 MHz band), "mid" (between 1 and 7 GHz), and "high" (above 7 GHz) frequencies.
Low bands broadcast the signal very far and therefore cover a large area with few antennas. At the other extreme, high bands have a limited radius, but their pipes are very wide and therefore offer higher bandwidths or serve more consumers simultaneously. In the middle, mid-bands are sought after by operators because they offer the best of both worlds: coverage and capacity.
The soon-to-be-allocated 3.5 GHz band (310 MHz, precisely, corresponding to the 3490-3800 MHz band) represents approximately half of the spectrum "pie" currently available to operators. These new frequencies, auctioned by governments, represent scarce public resources essential for operators to support the proven growth in user data consumption.
This frequency band is particularly suited to increasing network densification in urban areas or areas with high user concentrations. Conversely, the limited range of this band makes it unsuitable for effective coverage of the entire territory. Furthermore, implementing these additional frequencies requires operators to install new antennas, which takes time.
Lower frequencies, particularly the 700 MHz band, already allow for the deployment of 5G technology. These lower bands offer the dual advantage of covering larger areas and penetrating buildings much better.
Regardless of the frequency band, 5G will deliver higher throughput than 4G, due to more efficient coding. The latest technology offers approximately 15% more throughput per MHz, including in the 700 MHz band. However, the large amount of spectrum available in the 3.5 GHz band, the first deployments of which are expected to occur in dense urban areas, is likely to enable a capacity leap, which will not occur with the 700 MHz band in rural areas.
European harmonization and the principle of technological neutrality
The texts of Arcep and the Government (decisions and orders), which relate to the terms and conditions for granting authorizations to use frequencies in the 3.5 GHz band in metropolitan France, refer to a "public mobile network" or "land mobile system," and not to 5G.
Generally speaking, Arcep applies the principle of technological neutrality in its frequency allocation missions. This principle stems from the European regulatory framework.
The procedure for allocating the 3.5 GHz band is part of a global and European context of implementing 5G technology, which corresponds to the current ecosystem. The conditions for frequency usage require harmonization between states, with as broad a scope as possible.
Harmonization is essential to contribute to the development of a sufficiently broad market, and ultimately to the emergence of an ecosystem. In France, this harmonization work is being led by the ANFR (National Frequency Agency).
The new 3.5 GHz frequencies, suited more to dense urban areas, will be deployed; Rural coverage must continue simultaneously
As early as 2017, the Estonian Presidency of the European Union proposed a 5G roadmap, co-signed by all the ministers responsible for electronic communications in the Member States. This roadmap includes 5G coverage for at least one major city per Member State by 2020 and for major urban areas and transport routes by 2025.
The issue of 5G is therefore not new. It was already well-known and under discussion at the conclusion of the New Deal in January 2018 (an agreement between the government, Arcep, and operators, setting targets for bringing 4G to the entire population as quickly as possible). The introduction of 5G technology on operators' networks must neither call into question nor render obsolete the provisions of the New Deal. Both projects address specific challenges and must be carried out successfully, without conflict.
In rural areas, the challenge is not to "display" 5G coverage as a matter of principle, but rather to improve the user experience with more speed and more coverage. To this end, the announced introduction of 5G in the lower bands, for example the 700 MHz band, could prove disappointing, because these frequencies, while they allow for more extensive coverage, do not have the characteristics required for the "speed jump".
Conversely, the 3.5 GHz band is likely to provide better throughput and greater capacity, but requires a two- or three-fold increase in the number of antennas to achieve coverage equivalent to that currently available. This is the complexity of balancing the objectives of extended coverage and increasing throughput per user.
5G is part of a continuous process of increasing mobile connectivity throughput and offers a real leap in terms of "real-time or latency"
The deployment of 5G is part of a continuous evolution since the 1980s of technologies (GSM, UMTS, LTE) aimed, over successive generations, at transmitting voice, then data, with an increase in information throughput. The implementation of 5G is also part of a goal of technical and economic optimization of connectivity, for the benefit of all citizens, and in line with growing environmental challenges.
With each generation, bandwidth increases: between 4G and 5G, the order of magnitude is approximately a factor of 10.
Bandwidths associated with different generations of mobile networks
| Maximum flow rate | 0,3 Mbit/s | 7,2 Mbit/s | 42 Mbit/s | 150 Mbit/s | 300 Mbit/s – 1 Gbit/s | 1 – 10 Gbit/s |
| Average flow rate | 0,1 Mbit/s | 1,5 Mbit/s | 5 Mbit/s | 10 Mbit/s | 15 Mbit/s – 50 Mbit/s | 50 Mbit/s et plus |
5G, which will coexist with previous generations of mobile networks, will initially use frequency bands already used by them, as well as the 3.5 GHz band.
This 3.5 GHz band will be deployed to address the growth in data traffic and the capacity problem of mobile networks in dense urban areas. Several mobile operators have highlighted an expected resource shortage around 2022 in France, with a risk of a decline in user service quality. User data consumption is increasing significantly:
- The total volume of data consumed on mobile networks increased ninefold between 2016 and 2020;
- Average monthly data consumption on mobile networks per SIM card increased by 43% between the first quarter of 2019 and the first quarter of 2020.
Radio base stations, which communicate with mobile devices, currently operate using 2G, 3G, and 4G technologies. 5G will involve a software upgrade of this equipment.
The implementation of the 3.5 GHz band will require the addition of new antennas, particularly on existing antenna mounts.
The use of this 3.5 GHz band allows the implementation of active antennas, i.e. massive MIMO (multiple input multiple output) antennas, also known as "smart" antennas. These antennas are not specific to 5G. They contain several small antennas for focused transmissions. This solution should save energy, at a constant data volume, by transmitting only on demand or by going into standby mode when there is no service request.
Classes of relay antennas have been standardized by international organizations
• Long-range "macro" antennas: injected power of more than 6.3 W (type of antennas used for the operators' current macro network);
• Medium-range "micro" antennas: injected power between 250 mW and 6.3 W (type of indoor or outdoor antennas used on street furniture, for example);
• Local-range "pico" antennas: injected power between 100 mW and 250 mW (type of indoor antennas, used, for example, in shopping centers);
• Residential-range "femto" antennas: injected power less than 100 mW (indoor antennas used in private homes, comparable to "boxes").
Finally, the transition to 5G requires new terminals. The terminal fleet is naturally renewed in cycles of approximately two years.
Radio frequencies: a scarce resource to be optimized
The deployment of 5G in existing mobile networks will be gradual. A well-established practice in the electronic communications sector, particularly mobile, is to ensure change through continuity, i.e., to deploy a new generation incrementally, continuing to leverage previous generations to guarantee the continuity of the service offered to users and give them the freedom to choose its evolution. This evolution is accompanied by a gradual reuse of older frequency bands by the latest technology deployed to optimize the overall use of existing spectrum (refarming).
5G is expected to soon be deployed in the 3.5 GHz band, historically used for satellite services or local radio loops, and can use lower frequencies, already widely used by mobile operators.
700 MHz
800 MHz
900 MHz
1800 MHz
1900 - 1920 MHz
2,1 GHz
2,6 GHz FDD
2,6 GHz TDD
Source of the graphs above: ANFR - Observatory for the Deployment of Mobile Networks - Metropolitan France - Results as of September 1, 2020
Levels of Exposure to Waves and 5G
The limit values for exposure to electromagnetic waves have been the subject of guidelines since 1998, developed by an international non-governmental scientific organization called ICNIRP (International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection). This scientific organization, recognized in particular by the WHO (World Health Organization), establishes these exposure limit values based solely on currently proven harmful effects: thermal effects on tissues, for both distant exposure (antennas) and close exposure (terminals).
The ICNIRP guidelines represent a reference for the WHO, the European Union, and a large majority of countries, including France, which has incorporated them into regulatory provisions. In addition, France has implemented a series of other measures to further limit public exposure beyond the obligation to comply with exposure limits. France has also implemented measures to monitor and control exposure in living spaces and emissions from terminals.
In France, current exposure measurements are well below the limit values set by regulations, and their median values have varied little in recent years. In total, less than 1% of the exposure measurements carried out by ANFR exceed the level retained for so-called atypical points, i.e. subjected to a field greater than 6 V/m, a value ten times lower than the ICNIRP reference level corresponding to the future 5G bands.
It is difficult to measure exposure related to usage (i.e., contact with devices), which usually represents the majority of exposure; the ANFR monitors compliance with regulations for the types of phones placed on the market.
It is also complex to estimate the evolution of exposure levels in France due to the arrival of 5G. The information available to date suggests that the introduction of 5G in the 3.5 GHz band with active antennas will not generate a significant change in exposure in urban areas, where it will be primarily deployed, compared to the changes observed with existing networks. However, it may contribute to an increase in the number of atypical points, which will require particular vigilance.
Atypical points are locations where public exposure levels to electromagnetic waves substantially exceed the levels generally observed nationally. The annual census of atypical points reflects the missions entrusted to the ANFR, in application of the provisions of the law of February 9, 2015 relating to sobriety, transparency, information and consultation in matters of exposure to electromagnetic waves. In its census published in April 2020, the ANFR reported 29 atypical points identified among 3,820 measurements carried out in 2019.
Julien Renard
Contact Florence Erpelding
Do you have a question about 5G? Need some clarification for a future project? Send an email to Florence Erpelding, Tactis mobile connectivity expert.
