Mobile phones: 523 cities must be covered by 4G within 24 months

It may sound amazing, but in 2022, municipalities are still without a mobile network in France. In the age of 5G, some rural French are living outside the digital realm, in places where it’s impossible to pick up a 3G tape, make a phone call, or send a text. Thus, 523 cities were identified to benefit from the new infrastructure over the next 24 months.

In fact, in order to speed up mobile coverage of the regions, the Electronic Communications and Postal Regulatory Authority (Arcep) and the government launched the New Deal Mobile Program in January 2018.

Each year since the signing of this agreement, the government, local authorities and operators (Bouygues Telecom, Free Mobile, Orange and SFR) have consulted with each other and created a list of municipalities where new relay antennas are to be installed. A list of 523 new sites selected for 2022 has been published in Official Gazette On Wednesday, February 16, operators will have to provide these areas with 4G for the next 24 months. This new addition brings the total list to 3,594 sites to be covered, while 1,227 sites have already been operational since the start of the New Deal program. The ultimate goal of the program is to cover 5,000 sites by 2026, in order to put an end to the white and gray areas of France.

Culin (38), Treignat (03) or even Laveyrune (07) … Your city may be one of the following places covered by a mobile network. Check out the full list at Official Gazette.

The map below, along with a list of 523 new places (purple dots) selected for 2022, lists all locations in selected rural areas since 2018, that will already or soon be covered in 4G.