5G officially arrived in France yesterday. It is in Nice that the operator with the red square will allow users equipped with a compatible smartphone and its specific plan to benefit from the increased power of this new network.
The 5th generation mobile network was in the air, and now it’s a reality. Highly anticipated by young audiences and certain entrepreneurs, it is in Nice that the operator SFR decided to launch its latest innovation in mobile data. 5G offers great prospects for innovation and development in Nice today, rejoices Grégory Rabuel, the CEO of SFR.
Currently, 50% of the Nice urban area is covered by a network composed of 142 antennas. By the end of the year, 70% of the city will be eligible for 5G. “This new network will help relieve the congestion of 4G, which is starting to be saturated because usage shows that each of us needs to use our mobile more frequently, not only for traditional phone communications to which we are accustomed […] but also video, which today requires even more bandwidth and thus necessitates the contribution of new technology”, explains the CEO of Altice France, Alain Weill, linking it to the context of confinement due to the health crisis.
This improvement will also allow users who do not have a smartphone compatible with this new network generation to benefit from better quality 4G+ throughout the city and the Nice Côte d’Azur metropolitan area in time.
What are the advantages of 5G?
On a daily basis, the main advantage of this innovation is its power, which is ten times greater than a 4G+ network, representing a maximum speed of 100 megabits per second, slightly less powerful than a wired fiber network via an internet box. This will help improve telecommunications for remote work or family use. “Our goal is to promote the development of innovative services for individuals. One might say that this innovation is primarily for economic attractiveness and the business world, but first and foremost, we are speaking to men, women, and children. For the mayor, providing the best digital services to his entire population was naturally a major concern”, adds Christian Estrosi.
Theoretically, if in certain parts of the city, there is a noticeable reduction in network power causing interruptions when watching a video, for example, this should no longer happen with 5G (except in exceptional cases like yesterday during the live BFM TV broadcast via a smartphone connected to 5G, which cut off after four minutes on air – see the video here -). A technical incident that should no longer occur in a few weeks, thanks to the ongoing network deployment.
Commercially, the first offers will be available starting Tuesday online and in SFR stores. The plan will cost around €5 more compared to what consumers pay today.
