Aurélien Fleurot, edited by Gauthier Delomez 8:04 am, November 23, 2021

It has been a year since 5G, the ultra-fast network, was deployed in France.

Despite a gain in speed, consumer support is still struggling to make itself felt on the market.

In 2021, purchases of compatible smartphones represented a third of sales.

Even so, the deployment of the technology is proceeding on schedule.

It is heralded as a revolution, but struggles to convince.

5G draws up a mixed picture, one year after its launch in France.

Despite coverage that is gradually expanding, with half of the territory supplied and mainly large cities according to the operators, consumer support is not yet there.

"Today we have very few uses that have been developed around 5G. It will come," said Aurore Duquesne, senior consultant at GFK, on ​​Europe 1.

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Better flow if it is not increased tenfold

For now, this new technology is not at all a priority for buyers.

"Consumers will take more in criteria of choice the characteristics related to the performance of the smartphone, the size of the screens, the battery, rather than the connectivity", she explains.

Until then, there is indeed nothing spectacular for 5G users.

The reduction in latency and the ability to connect thousands of objects at the same time is still long overdue.

On the other hand, the flow is better if it is not increased tenfold, as is promised in the long term.

For example at Orange, in a big city, it is 50% more compared to 4G.

An advantage that has attracted nearly 3.5 million French people who bought a 5G phone in 2021, or a third of the market.

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20,000 operational branches in France

Despite the lack of enthusiasm generated by 5G and opposition from opponents to the installation of antennas, technical deployment is still ongoing.

In total, nearly 20,000 branches are operational in France.

Large cities are covered such as Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Lille, Bordeaux, Nantes, Orléans, Grenoble ...

In general, operators are also within the passage times.

SFR announces to cover half of the territory by the end of the year 2021. For Orange, it is nearly 40% with a 5G network hailed for its quality by Arcep, the telecoms policeman.