Starlink is again authorized in France. After a public consultation demanded by the courts, Arcep granted a new authorization for the use of frequencies to Elon Musk’s satellite Internet service. Unsurprisingly, the regulator believes that the service is capable of helping French people who live in a white zone.
At the beginning of April 2022, the Council of State decided to break the authorization of Arcep, the telecoms regulator, concerning Starlink. Seized by several associations for the defense of the environment, the organization had estimated that Arcep had acted in haste by allocating two frequency bands to the Internet by satellite. This decision risked deprive French users of service.
Back to the wall, Arcep quickly reacted to the decision of the Council of State. The telecoms policeman has relaunched the award procedure with the establishment ofa public consultation, which ended on May 9. At the end of the procedure, the regulator granted a new authorization to use Starlink frequencies.
Starlink, a weapon against white areas in France
“Arcep has taken decision no. 2022-1102, which it is publishing today, granting Starlink Internet Services Limited an authorization to use radio frequencies for a network open to the public allowing it to provide access fixed internet via satellite”declares Arcep in a press release published on June 2, 2022.
The regulator specifies that the public consultation has made it possible to highlight “the interest of the Starlink service in developing the connectivity of mobile “white areas” or poorly served by networks fibers”. Several industry players obviously felt that Starlink represented an asset in areas where optical fiber or mobile networks are unavailable.
On the same theme: Starlink now has 400,000 users, its popularity explodes in 2022
Most white areas are located in rural, sparsely populated areas. In 2022, 523 towns in France are still completely without a 4G network. Besides the white areas, there are also many gray areas, where the connection is available but of poor quality. Ultimately, Starlink users can be reassured. The access service is not at risk of being suspended on French territory.