France on Tuesday began to auction off radio frequencies for the deployment of ultrafast 5G mobile technology, a process that will add billions of euros to the government\u2019s depleted coffers.<\/p>\n
Operators Orange, SFR, Bouygues Telecom and Free are bidding for 11 frequency blocks that are currently unused, with the aim of offering 5G services in some French cities by the end of the year.<\/p>\n
The fifth-generation successor to 4G technology promises radically quicker transfers of data, heralding major changes to an array of products and services from self-driving cars to remote surgery.<\/p>\n
France was to launch the sale of the frequencies in April, but postponed the auction because of the Covid-19 crisis.
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\nFrance is lagging behind other countries that have already launched 5G services, with South Korea and China the most advanced.<\/p>\n
More than a dozen EU countries have also started operating 5G services, but none as developed as the Asian frontrunners.<\/p>\n
Activists and leftwing lawmakers in France have tried to halt the 5G rollout because of health and environmental concerns, but President Emmanuel Macron\u2019s government has pressed on regardless.<\/p>\n
Macron, eager to cast France as a start-up nation embracing cutting-edge technologies, this month even derided 5G opponents as wanting to impose \u201cthe Amish model.\u201d
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\nHe said \u201cFrance is going to pursue the shift to 5G because it\u2019s the shift towards innovation.\u201d<\/p>\n
The government expects to make at least 2.2 billion euros ($2.6 billion) from the sale, a welcome windfall at a time when it is throwing all its financial firepower into the fight to limit the coronavirus pandemic\u2019s economic fallout.<\/p>\n