France's Free makes bold 5G standalone claims

The Iliad-owned French mobile operator this week declared itself to be the first telco in the country to deploy 5G SA "on a national scale," a choice of words that hints at nationwide coverage. But the rest of its announcement lacks the detail that would help to justify that claim.

Free asserts that it has the largest 5G network in France, made up of 20,000-plus cell sites, including 6,950 sites that use 3.5 GHz spectrum. The network is available in almost 10,500 municipalities, it says, which means coverage of almost 95% of the population.

"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," the English version of its press announcement reads.

Even if all of those 3.5 GHz sites are now 5G SA – and Free does not directly say that – it's still a fair way from nationwide coverage. Broad population coverage, sure. But perhaps not as widespread as the telco would like to suggest.

We're splitting hairs a little bit though. A bit of tricksy PR doesn't take away from the fact that Free has pushed on and launched 5G SA when many others are dragging their heels.

In July Dell'Oro Group reduced its forecast for the global mobile core network market for the fifth time, citing the lack of movement towards 5G SA. There were only around 50 commercially deployed 5G SA networks at the time, it said.

Closer to home, Orange France use the recent Paris Olympics to show off its 5G SA infrastructure, and this week announced that it will bring the technology to the residential market with the launch of 5G+ Home slated for 10 October.

Orange says it has the largest 3.5 GHz 5G network in France, and with 10,401 operational sites it has evidence to that effect... and indirectly challenges Free's national coverage claim on 5G SA.

We haven't heard much from Bouygues Telecom or SFR on standalone 5G of late, but both have carried out trials and will no doubt come to market at some point.

For now though, Free can have its moment in the sun.

5G SA is available immediately and at no extra cost for customers, it said. As well as touting the usual benefits – faster speeds, lower latency and greater reliability – Free is keen to point out that it is the first in France to offer Voice over New Radio (VoNR), which should offer better voice quality and prove to be less of a drain on users' phone batteries, amongst other things.

Naturally, those eager to be early adopters of 5G SA will need a compatible handset. Free notes that it can offer a range of such devices, including some from Samsung.

While coverage of the new network is highly unlikely to be as widespread as Free implies, France's smallest mobile network operator still gets to be first to market with commercial 5G SA offering. No wonder it is keen to shout about it.