5G: why is Paris so late?

Xavier Niel, Chairman of the Board of Iliad (Free’s parent company) assures that the 5th generation mobile network (5G) will be available in Paris “before the end of February”. According to the French Electronic Communications Regulatory Authority (ARCEP), as of December 31th, 2020, nearly 1,700 5G sites had been created by Orange, SFR, Free and Bouygues Telecom in Paris region. However, no antenna has been activated in the capital. How can this delay be explained?

It is mainly due to the blocking of environmentalists. Those ones challenge the safety and environmental merits of this new technological standard. Re-elected mayor in 2020, Anne Hidalgo relies on a plural majority (socialists, ecologists, communists and Generation.s). With 24 elected officials, including five municipal deputies, the environmentalist group is the second largest group in her majority after the Socialist Party.

• The 12 February 2021.