While Orange is currently deploying its 5G network in France, it still relies on its 4G infrastructure. This will soon no longer be the case. The incumbent operator intends to deploy a 5G core network from 2022, with the aim of marketing a standalone (or autonomous) network capable of finally keeping the promises of explosion of speeds so much displayed by the promoters of the new generation of mobile technology in recent years.
“For Orange, 2022 is a year of preparation, testing and deployment allowing commercial launches from 2023”, has just announced the management of the incumbent operator, who delivered this Monday morning the list of industrial partners. responsible for deploying its standalone network.
In France, Orange has thus chosen to work with Nokia – which already equips its non-standalone 5G network with Ericsson. The Finnish giant will be responsible for deploying the standalone 5G core network in France (but also in Slovakia), while being responsible for managing user data (Subscriber Data Management) in all the European countries where Orange operates today.
Oracle and Ericsson also in the game
The American giant Oracle will be responsible for driving the signaling and routing of the 5G core in all of Orange’s European markets. As for the hearts of Orange networks in Belgium, Spain, Luxembourg and Poland, it will be done by Nokia’s competitor, namely Ericsson.
While Orange is deploying its next-generation mobile networks in all directions based on 4G infrastructures, the operator is also already marketing standalone 5G in the context of private mobile networks via its B to B branch Orange Business Services. Be that as it may, the operator’s recent announcements mark the start of the generalization of 5G standalone within the mobile networks operated by Orange.
This is therefore an important announcement, given that the addition of these new network cores will allow the incumbent operator to really implement the most advanced 5G technologies, starting in particular with the network -slicing. Note that with regard to the other functions of the Orange 5G network, these will be “upgraded” via software updates of existing equipment.
A still timid start
The launch of standalone 5G should allow the new generation of mobile technology to gain popularity with the general public, even though its adoption is still far from being generalized. According to the latest figures delivered by Arcep on this subject, France had 1.6 million 5G subscribers at the end of September 2021. A slow start given the number of 4G subscribers, which stood at September 30. to 64.3 million on the French market.
For Arcep, the slow adoption of 5G by the general public is due in particular to the low speed gain allowed for the time being by the 5G offers marketed by French operators. Last November, the telecoms policeman noted that if the average downlink speeds in 2G/3G/4G recorded this same month reached 71 Mbit/s, against 49 Mbit/s last year, they were not significantly different by incorporating measurements of downlink speeds on 5G… except on Orange’s 5G network in dense areas.
For the Authority, the hook rate on 5G networks – which represents the share of tests actually measured on 5G networks – also remained quite low, revealing in fact the persistence of large holes in the racket in the mobile networks of new generation deployed by operators so far. It remains to be hoped that the efforts made by Orange to deploy its network throughout the territory, as well as the imminent arrival of a 5G core network, will allow the new generation of mobile technology to really take off.