The mayor of Rennes Nathalie Appéré in his office at the Town Hall, September 28, 2017. -

C. Allain / 20 Minutes

  • The controversy swells in Rennes over the deployment of 5G.

  • The city will launch an impact study to study the consequences of the possible deployment of this technology.

  • Criticized by the opposition and digital players, the mayor justifies her decision.

In the midst of the controversy over the deployment of 5G in France, the subject finds particular resonance in Rennes (Ille-et-Vilaine).

In this cradle of telecommunications, which in particular saw the birth of Minitel forty years ago, digital technology weighs heavily with more than 30,000 jobs in the metropolis.

For 5G, it is in any case noted that Rennes will not be a motor city.

The mayor of Rennes Nathalie Appéré wants to give herself time for reflection.

For this, it requested an impact study on the deployment of this technology, at the same time blocking any project while awaiting conclusions.

Not wanting to experiment with 5G in Rennes, it's as if Reims decided to ban champagne or Le Havre to close its port!

How to kill its flagship economy and its ecosystem!

Think of the tens of thousands of people who work in digital and telecoms in Rennes https://t.co/K7nANnTL6N

- Jocelyn DENIS (@jocelyndenis) September 16, 2020

This announcement did not take long to trigger the opposition as well as digital players.

“Not wanting to experiment with 5G in Rennes, it's as if Reims decided to ban champagne or Le Havre from closing its port!

How to kill its flagship economy and its ecosystem!

", Tweeted Jocelyn Denis, CEO of the Digitaleo group.

"Shedding light on this technology"

Seeing the controversy swelling, the mayor wanted to justify his position this late Monday afternoon during a city council meeting.

"I am neither for nor against 5G," said Nathalie Appéré straight away, denouncing in passing "a hysterization of public debate" on the subject.

"But as we did for 3G or 4G, I want all the light to be shed on this technology because I consider that citizens have the right to be informed and to give an opinion before its deployment", she stressed.

"When a new technology arrives, it is our responsibility to study it," added Pierre Jannin, the elected official in charge of digital.

And not to do so would be irresponsible ”.

The conclusions of the study expected in the spring

In this highly sensitive issue, the city of Rennes is well aware of not having all the cards in hand.

"It is not the mayor who decides to deploy or not, it is the State", moreover underlined last week Pierre Jacobs, director of Orange in the Great West.

"But it will take authorizations to deploy antennas on municipal heritage and this is the responsibility of local authorities," replied Nathalie Appéré.

To see more clearly in this file, the mayor is now awaiting the conclusions of the study which should be unveiled in the spring.

By then, a commission will be in working order and will have heard from experts from all sides.

“It is a question of measuring what impacts this technology will have for Rennes, specified Pierre Jannin.

From the point of view of uses but also economic, health and environmental aspects ”.

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  • Nathalie Appéré

  • High-Tech

  • Reindeer

  • Telephony

  • 5G

  • Technology

  • Controversy

  • Society