Free takes 5G standalone lead in France

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The operator says it is the first in the country to launch 5G standalone (SA) on a “national scale”

This week, French mobile network operator Free, owned by telecoms giant Iliad Group, has announced the launch of 5G SA services.

“Today, Free is announcing that it has deployed 5G SA (Standalone Access) on the 3.5 GHz frequencies of its public network on a national scale. By doing this, it has become the first mobile operator in France to offer this technology to its subscribers,” reads the company’s translated press release.

More specifically, the operator says it has switched on 5G SA at 6,950 of its 20,000 5G sites across the country, with customers able to access the new technology on compatible devices at no extra cost.

The new SA architecture will provide customers with higher speeds and lower latency, as well as unlocking a host of potential new use cases, from extended reality to network slicing.

“5G SA is the final phase of the development of the 5G network, enabling faster speeds, lower latency, and higher reliability,” explained Free. “Its large-scale deployment will allow the full potential of 5G technology to be realized through the massive take-up of new services and 5G applications in many domains, ranging from industry, health, education, and entertainment through to smart cities.”

It should be noted that while the announcement claims the standalone deployment to be at a “national scale”, this is presumably not the same as ‘nationwide”. Free says its 20,000 5G sites provide coverage of coverage of roughly 95% of the French population, which would suggest that there are still many thousands of sites left to upgrade before truly national coverage can be achieved.

This is the second major 5G SA announcement this month, with EE (BT) having announced the launch of the new technology in 15 cities a few weeks ago. Interestingly, EE’ 5G SA network will only be available to customers via new premium packages and will not be accessible for customers on existing plans.

This is in contrast to rivals Virgin Media O2 and Vodafone, both of whom will allow existing users to access the new network at no additional cost.

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