The games are made. The auction for the assignment of frequencies for 5G will take place between 20 and 30 September. The suspense was pretty weak, with that Agnès Pannier-Runacher, State secretary to the minister of economy has called for bids in September. The regulator of the telecommunications (Arcep) has thus specified the schedule this Thursday. The choice of this new calendar, with bids that are staggered for nearly five months because of confinement, is far from making the unanimity among the operators. If Orange and Free are in favour, SFR and Bouygues Telecom have not spared their efforts to try to get a deferral.
Bouygues Telecom has struggled until the last moment. On Wednesday, Martin Bouygues himself went to plead his cause before the Senate, to ask for a deferral to December. But the answers are probably not at the height of its expectations. The auction will take place in September, the financial terms and conditions as laid down prior to the crisis. For the record, the four national operators will pay 350 million euros each for the first four blocks of 50 Ghz, payable over fifteen years. And 11 blocks of 10 Mhz were auctioned, with a reserve price of 70 million euros. The total bill is therefore of 2.14 billion euros minimum for the four operators.
Single point of easing, due to delays because of the crisis of the Covid-19, the operators no longer have the obligation to launch a commercial 5G in at least two cities before the end of the year. They are free to choose their launch date. Sébastien Soriano, president of Arcep, made a bet of competition, believing that when one of the operators will put an offer on the market, its rivals will soon follow.
More 4G +
at the same time, Arcep is encouraging operators to maintain or even accelerate their efforts in 4G, “in addition to “new deal in mobile”. This agreement between the State and the operators provides for the installation mass of new sites in the territory, as well as a generalization of the 4G. Arcep has said that it will be very vigilant on the respect of these commitments. In addition, the specifications of the 5G will provide “obligations to strengthen the 4G. The generalization of the access to the 4G+ (a rise in the ability of networks to at least 240 Mbit/s which is four times more than the current requirement) will be assured in the territories. In particular, the operators will have to ensure at the end of 2022, the 4G+ on at least 75% of their sites,” says the Authority.
This is a way to meet the actors of the territories who complain about a lack of coverage of 4G. But the position of Arcep is a pebble in the shoe of Bouygues Telecom and SFR. The two operators have said that they could accelerate in the 4G, taking into account the deployment of the 5G. The Authority gives them this possibility, by removing the obligations of the commercial launch of 5G before the end of the year. Burden on operators to establish their strategy in function of those of their competitors…A position that may lead to new tensions in a sector that has a bearing able to make a united front during the crisis.
The editorial team conseilleAgnès Pannier-Runacher: “The launch of the 5G is expected before the end of the year,””The risk of saturation of the telecom networks do exist, but are controlled”Telecom operators are at war with their régulateurSujetsORANGEFreeBouygues TelecomSFRArcep5GTelecomsAucun comment
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