Orange France planning to launch 5G services in December

Orange France is planning to start offering 5G services in December, following the launch of four new 5G-compatible voice and data plans. The new offerings range in price from EUR39.90 (USD46.92) for unlimited calls/SMS, 70GB of 5G data and an optional second SIM for another connected device, to EUR94.99 for unlimited calls/SMS/data and two additional SIMs. The operator claims that its 5G network will utilise existing 4G sites, and will feature Massive MIMO technology. The network will utilise spectrum in the 3.4GHz-3.8GHz band (Orange secured 90MHz in the band for EUR854 million in Arcep’s recently concluded 5G auction) and the 26GHz band (24.25GHz-27.50GHz). While commercial licences for the 26GHz will not be available immediately, Orange claims to have trial concessions to test the spectrum at two sites.