5G: the auction for the allocation of frequencies will start on September 29

The auction to distribute among French operators the new radio frequencies necessary for the launch of 5G will begin on September 29, announced Monday the president of the telecoms regulator Sébastien Soriano, interviewed on

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Initially scheduled for April but postponed due to the epidemic, these auctions should allow operators to allocate 11 "blocks" of frequencies in the band ranging from 3.4 to 3.8 gigahertz (GHz), and pave the way for the first commercial 5G services in certain French cities by the end of the year.

"Yes, the auctions will take place. They will start on September 29 and they will last as long as the various operators compete and increase the prices to have a more or less important quantity of frequencies", declared Sébastien Soriano, president of Arcep.

5G should arrive in some French cities next year, before a gradual deployment throughout the territory by 2030. 

The state hopes to obtain 2.17 billion euros 

The new generation of 5G mobile networks should allow the development of new consumer and industrial uses, but is met with hostility from part of the population.

To set up a new mobile network, each operator (Orange, SFR, Bouygues Telecom and Free) must acquire the right to emit "microwave" waves on a certain frequency.

5G will be launched in France by first using the frequency band from 3.4 to 3.8 gigahertz (GHz) on the electromagnetic spectrum, which classifies the different radiations from x-rays to microwaves passing through light visible.

The four operators, already depositaries since 2015 of "long-range" frequencies at lower frequencies, each obtained a block of 50 megahertz (MHz) in this band, at the fixed price of 350 million euros.

With the sale of additional 110 MHz on September 29, the state should receive a jackpot announced at a minimum of 2.17 billion euros.