France had a total of 38,132 authorized 5G sites as of January 1, of which 29,315 were declared technically operational by local operators, according to the latest monthly report published by France’s spectrum agency ANFR.
The agency noted that the number of authorized 5G sites during the last month of 2022 increased by 1.5% compared to the previous month.
The agency also said that almost all of the 5G sites have been authorized on existing cellular sites, already used by 2G, 3G or 4G technologies.
In France, mobile operators are currently providing 5G services through spectrum in 700 MHz, 2.1 GHz and 3.5 GHz bands.
ANFR said that a total of 20,881 sites are authorized in the 700 MHz band (Free Mobile), of which 16,519 are already technically operational. Also, ANFR said that 16,722 sites are authorized in the 2.1 GHz band (Bouygues Telecom, Orange and SFR), but 10,648 are technically operational.
Meanwhile, 23,291 sites are authorized in the 3.5 GHz band (Bouygues Telecom, Free Mobile, Orange and SFR), of which 16,228 are declared technically operational.
Free Mobile had the highest number of operational 5G sites as of the end of December, with 16,524, followed by Bouygues Telecom (9,514), SFR (8,388) and Orange (5,601).
Some of the authorized 5G sites are shared by the mobile operators, ANFR said.
Read more: rcrwireless.com
