By Juan Pedro Tomás
The Paris Council approved a new telecom charter which will give the green light for 5G deployments in the French capital.
The charter was approved with the support of right-wing officials and despite the opposition from environmentalists, who had proposed to authorize the new technology later in the year.
Local press reported that mobile operators have already deployed 5G infrastructure in Paris and were only waiting for the final approval by the council in order to start operating these 5G sites.
Local telecommunications group Orange’s head, Stéphane Richard, recently confirmed that 5G will begin in Paris before the end of March.
France’s four network operators had recently agreed to an updated charter with the Paris’s municipal government, which will enable the launch of 5G technology in France’s capital.
This agreement followed the conclusion of a consultation process launched at the end of 2020 by Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, aimed at gathering feedback from the public on topics such as the environmental and health issues related to 5G deployments.
The deal was signed by local operators Bouygues Telecom, Free Mobile, Orange and SFR.
The new pact stipulates limitation of exposure to radio waves, information and transparency on the installation of 5G antennas and monitoring of the environmental impact of 5G deployments in the city.
The city of Paris committed to provide Parisians with complete and transparent information on the impacts of mobile telephony and 5G by publishing the reports of the competent national agencies as well as the information provided by the operators.
France had a total of 21,714 5G authorized sites as of March 1, of which 12,310 were declared technically operational by the local mobile carriers, according to the latest information provided by France’s spectrum agency ANFR.
The agency said that all of the 5G sites have been authorized on existing cellular sites, already used by 2G, 3G or 4G technologies.
As of the beginning of February, a total of 19,938 5G sites had been authorized, of which 9,426 were declared technically operational.
In France, mobile operators are currently providing 5G services through three frequency bands.
A total of 15,734 sites are authorized in the 700 MHz band (Free Mobile), of which 7,054 are already technically operational. Also, ANFR said that 6,090 sites are authorized in the 2.100 GHz band (Bouygues Telecom, Orange and SFR), but 3,261 are technically operational.
Meanwhile, 5,361 sites are authorized in the 3.5 GHz band (Bouygues Telecom, Free Mobile, Orange and SFR), of which 1,995 are declared technically operational.
