Most French operators would like to slow down the deployment of 5G in the countryside, according to a note sent to the Minister of Digital Transition and to Arcep, according to our colleagues from Les Echos.
Orange, Bouygues Telecom and SFR reportedly announced their wish to reduce “ the rate of deployment of 5G in less dense areas “. In a note sent to the Minister for the Digital Transition and to Arcep, the three operators mention in particular energy concerns if the deployment of 5G were to follow. the initial goal of 10,000 5G antennas each by 2025.
Indeed, the network would represent approximately two thirds of the consumption of the operators, according to the report of Les Echos. Additionally, operators note that the presence of a 5G antenna in an area generally leads to an increase in overall consumption around 40%, which is therefore not good news in the midst of the energy crisis.
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5G in the countryside is not compatible with the energy crisis
A slowdown in operator investment in the 5G network could allow a 1.4% reduction in network energy expenditure in 2023. This drop could even reach 5% once combined with other requests expressed by the sector, including in particular adjustments to the level of the obligation to increase throughput in seasonal areas, or even deployment on motorways.
Contacted by Les Echos, the Ministry of Digital Transition does not seem inclined to accept the request of the French Telecom Federation. Indeed, the ministry considers that operators should rather respect their commitments so as not to create a new digital divide, rather than seek to save energy. “ In order not to create a new territorial divide, telecommunications operators must respect the commitments made to Arcep “.
The ministry also argues that “ 5G makes it possible to divide the electricity consumption of the mobile network by 10 compared to 4G “. According to him, it is therefore important to focus on the deployment of the next generation. We also recall that 5G smartphones are now more popular than 4G devices, and that 5G users are now 700 million worldwide.
