Mobile Network Coverage in France: Reading ARCEP 4G and 5G Data

What "mobile coverage" means in France

Mobile coverage is the ability of an operator to deliver a usable signal in a given area, for voice or data. Two measures are commonly used:

• Population coverage: the share of inhabitants living in an area where the operator provides service.
• Territorial coverage: the share of the land that is covered. It is the harder measure to score well on, because it includes sparsely populated zones such as mountains, forests and farmland.

ARCEP, the French telecoms regulator, publishes the coverage maps of the operators on monreseaumobile.arcep.fr.

Coverage also depends on where you use the phone: outdoors, in a vehicle or indoors. Indoor reception can be weaker because building materials attenuate radio signals.

The four mobile network operators

France has four mobile network operators (MNOs), which own antenna infrastructure:

• Orange
• SFR
• Bouygues Telecom
• Free Mobile

Operators sell plans under their own name, through sub-brands or through MVNOs (see below). For reception, the network behind the brand is what counts.

Checking coverage at your address

ARCEP's interactive tool lets you check 4G and 5G coverage for each operator at a given address. Use it for the exact address you care about: a national figure does not tell you what you will get in a specific street or building.

5G in France: bands

ARCEP identifies three main frequency bands for 5G:

• 700 MHz: the coverage band
• 3.4-3.8 GHz: the core band, a compromise between coverage and data rate
• 26 GHz: used mainly for experimental platforms and high-capacity uses

In general, lower frequencies travel further, while higher frequencies carry more data over shorter distances. Check 5G availability for your own address on the ARCEP tool rather than relying on the icon shown on your phone.

Dead zones and the New Deal Mobile program

A dead zone (zone blanche in French) is an area without mobile coverage.

The New Deal Mobile (2018)

In January 2018, ARCEP and the French Government announced commitments made by the mobile operators to speed up mobile coverage. One of its elements is:

• Targeted Coverage Scheme (Dispositif de Couverture Ciblée): in the end, each operator will be required to cover 5,000 new zones.

MVNOs and host networks

An MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) owns no antennas: it uses the network of one of the four operators. Before subscribing to an MVNO, find out which operator's network it uses, then check that network at your address on monreseaumobile.arcep.fr.

SAR / DAS limits

DAS (Débit d'Absorption Spécifique) is the French term for SAR (Specific Absorption Rate). It measures the radio energy absorbed by the human body when using a phone, expressed in watts per kilogram (W/kg). French regulation uses the following limit values, based on EU Recommendation 1999/519/EC:

Sources: ANFR (limit values and units); radiofrequences.gouv.fr (link with Recommendation 1999/519/EC).

Improving reception at home

If you are new to France

Coverage depends on the address, not on the city or on your previous experience with an operator. Before you choose an operator for a new home, check that address on monreseaumobile.arcep.fr.

This guide does not cover which documents an operator asks for or how foreign documents are treated, because we could not tie those points to an official source when we verified this page.

Frequently asked questions