Orange TowerCo subsidiary, TOTEM Deploys A Next-Generation 5G Network At The Orange Vélodrome
By Francois Giudice, Senior Correspondent, France
To meet the growing connectivity needs of the Orange Vélodrome, Orange’s European Tower Company, TOTEM has deployed a next generation 5G network at the stadium. This makes the Orange Vélodrome the first French stadium to benefit from this level of 5G connectivity. This is particularly important to meet the high expectations of fans, organizers, and the media ahead of major sports events such as the next Olympique de Marseille (OM) matches and international competitions.
To achieve this, TOTEM has deployed a DAS (Distributed Antenna System) infrastructure with next-generation antennas designed specifically for venues with high mobile phone usage to provide consistent, high-quality network coverage and high levels of energy efficiency. This network of private pooled antennas is made available to all operators to provide all their mobile services simultaneously, while ensuring that Orange Vélodrome teams have a single, neutral point of contact. Through this pooling, TOTEM meets the expectations of the Orange Vélodrome in terms of optimizing the equipment footprint and allows operators to consume less energy.
The four French operators, Bouygues Télécom, Free Mobile, Orange and SFR, connected today their equipment to the antenna infrastructure deployed by TOTEM and can now offer 5G to their end customers within the Orange Vélodrome. As a Tower Company, TOTEM ensures that all its operator customers have access to the infrastructure, allowing them to operate their respective networks in the best conditions.
“Connecting an indoor environment to the latest generation of 5G, which can be used by almost 68,000 people at the same time, is a real technical challenge. To connect the Orange Vélodrome, TOTEM has built the first network of its kind in France, capable of meeting the connectivity needs of the biggest sports events. The equipment deployed by TOTEM is the same successfully deployed solution at major competitions in the US and will make the Orange Vélodrome the first stadium in France to have such advanced 5G connectivity,” says CEO of TOTEM France, Thierry Papin.
