[European Times, September 15 Xia Ying compiled] One year after the 5G spectrum auction, operators are still trying to convince the French to believe in the practicality of the new generation of mobile networks.
conditions are not met, only 10% of French people have 5G mobile phones
French "Le Monde" reported that 5G promises to provide ultra-high-speed network, but French consumers still accept this badly. One year after the auction that brought the country 2.8 billion euros in revenue, the new generation of mobile networks currently only accounts for 1% of the operator's mobile traffic.
It must be said that not all the conditions for access to 5G are already available. First of all, even if the deployment of 5G base stations is accelerating-the number has increased from 8,000 at the end of 2020 to around 17,000 in September, according to operators, the coverage is still incomplete and uneven. The French Electronic Communications and Postal Regulatory Agency (Arcep) has set a goal for each operator to deploy 10,500 5G base stations in France by 2025 to cover two-thirds of the population. So by 2030, the French will completely switch to 5G.
5G base station. (Image source: Xinhua News Agency)
Then you must have a compatible mobile phone. Most of the new models meet the requirements of 5G terminals, but only one in ten French consumers have already equipped them. It will take several years to update the total. Finally, the subscriber must subscribe to the equivalent package, as it should be. Under the same quotation, the monthly cost of a 5G network is about 5 Euros. Only the operator Free integrates 5G into its package at a price of 19.99 euros at no additional cost.
suspicion and distrust
At this stage, operators are still tight-lipped about the number of 5G users, and for those players who have invested heavily, the rewards of 5G changes have been delayed for too long : According to Arcep data, in 2020, these operators spent 8.3 billion euros on mobile networks.Liza Bellulo, Secretary-General of Bouygues Telecom, said: "More than half of the SIM cards are adapted to 4G networks. It took 5 years to break this threshold." Orange Telecom even believes that the transition to 5G should be "compared to One generation is faster".
The fact is that users still have doubts and distrust towards the new generation of mobile networks. First of all, experts said that "true 5G" is still very few. "A large part of 5G base stations are still using 4G frequency, that is, the 700 MHz frequency band. "This 5G is no different from the previous generation of mobile networks." Director Antoine Autier said. In his opinion, the performance will become significantly better in the high frequency band above 3,500 MHz.
Therefore, according to Arcep's "My Mobile Network" website According to the coverage data provided, Free, which claims to have the largest network and covers nearly two-thirds of the population, has nearly 90% of its base stations accurately positioned on the 700 MHz frequency band. In terms of "real" 5G, the operator ranks in France Second, with 1,297 base stations, it lags behind Orange Telecom, which has 1,597 base stations, but ahead of Bouygues and SFR . Arcep clearly distinguishes different types of base stations, but "the information is not clear enough, which may make consumers Disappointed", Anthony Ortier expressed regret.
What is the use of increasing connection speed?
The current 5G downturn can also be explained by the long-term hesitation of consumers. Although the National Health and Security Administration is in An opinion was issued on April 20, stating that under the current state of knowledge, this technology “has no new risks”, but people still doubt the health risks brought by the new mobile network, just like the environmental cost of the future network.
But fundamentally speaking, what is being questioned is the interest of ordinary consumers in improving connection speed. Operators lack specific examples to illustrate what it can really bring to customers.
"In addition to additional data and connection speed In addition, 5G does not provide the public with anything brand new."Lisa Bellulo admits. But from 2023, industrial 5G will provide innovative and specific applications. "With the advent of independent 5G, the new mobile network must give full play to its performance at this time. "
If this condition is met, "5G will become a competitive factor for the company," said Thomas Reynaud, CEO of Free’s parent company Iliad. "As an operator, "our responsibility is to predict and use The situation changes. We cannot wait until 5G has become a necessity for businesses and individuals before launching it."
(Editor: Qiu Li)
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