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5G at no extra cost on France’s largest 5G network

Today, Free is launching 5G and offering the only plan available in Franceincluding5Gat no extracostthat has unlimited mobile Internet for its Freebox subscribers.Free has the country’s largest 5G network, with 5,255 active sites and already covers almost 40% of the French population.With this new plan, Free is opening up widespread access to 5G in France.

5G at no extra cost
True to its founding values, Free has decided to bring 5G within everyone’s reach by including it in the Free Mobile Plan, while keeping the same prices and increasing the fair use data limit.

The largest 5G mobile network in France
With 5,255 active sites in France, Free’s 5G network already covers almost 40% of the population. This means that Free now has the country’s largest mobile 5G network, spanning rural areas as well as towns and cities.

For its 5G network, Free uses frequencies in the 700 MHz band –which according to Arcep is the first frequency band to be fully available for 5G (since mid-2019) –as well as frequencies in the 3.5 GHz band which Free acquired in the French spectrum auction in 2020.

Thanks to its network investments and purchase of frequencies, as from today Free can offer its subscribers:
•Broad coverage and good indoor reception thanks to the so-called low frequencies (700MHz), which have very good propagation characteristics.
•Ultra-fast speeds, thanks to 70 MHz in the high frequency band (3.5 GHz) which gives speeds that are up to three times faster than 4G.

Using low frequencies for coverage and high frequencies for speed fully optimizes the Free mobile network. It was a technical choice that all of France’s telcosmade when rolling out their 3G and 4G networks.

Free is principally using European equipment for developing its 4G and 5G networks. In all, over 2,000 people are working day in, day out on deploying this network across the whole of France.

A wide range of 5G smartphones available
Free is also giving its subscribers access to the latest 5G smartphonesby offering them a wide range of 5G smartphones starting from €319. Again, true to its long-standing principles, Free is transparently and responsibly making it easier for subscribers to get a new 5G phone by giving them the option of paying for it in four interest-free instalments, or renting it, available both in Free stores and online.

5G –a more energy-efficient technology
5G is an energy-efficient technology as it will absorb the steep rises we’re seeing in mobile data traffic (30% each year) without causing network energy consumption to shoot up.

This means that rolling out 5G is more energy friendly than densifying the 4G network. In France, 4G networks will very soon reach saturation point and without 5G there would need to be a lot moremobile sites. A 5G mast using 3.5 GHz frequencies will provide higherspeeds, while using a contained amount of energy.

5G technologyis the first generation of mobile equipment that is green by design. In other words, energy efficiency is incorporated right from the design phase.

Everything is ultra-integrated, with software that can activate advanced sleep modes as 5G masts only emit when necessary, based on the requirements in a given area.

An offer available as from today
The Free 5G Plan is accessible as from today both for existing Free Mobile Plan subscribers – at no extra cost – and to new subscribers. To get 5G access, subscribers just need to activate the 5G service online in their subscriber space.
CT Bureau

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