Caution or welcome technological innovation?
From Lille, in favor of a moratorium, to Nice, welcoming, the big French cities differ on the deployment of the new generation of mobile networks, which will allow a tenfold Internet speed.
Read also: Telecom operators will be able to launch 5G in Paris
Lille: moratorium adopted
In Lille, the city council adopted a moratorium on 5G in mid-October until the publication scheduled for spring 2021 of a report from the National Health Security Agency (ANSES) on the subject, and operators have decided to do not pass by force.
“Because our doubts persist both from a health point of view and digital sobriety on the deployment of 5G, we voted (...) a moratorium.
It is urgent to wait! ”
, Mayor Martine Aubry (PS) said on Twitter.
Bordeaux, Lyon, Grenoble: recalcitrant but powerless
In Lyon, despite the moratorium demanded at the end of September by the municipal council with an ecological majority, SFR announced on December 18 that it was launching the marketing of its 5G service in Lyon, joining Bouygues and Free.
Ditto for Bordeaux since early February.
The mayor of Lyon Grégory Doucet then took note of this announcement, failing to be able to oppose it, recalling that he was asking
“all operators to give strong signals on their social and societal responsibility”
.
According to a barometer carried out by the Zone ADSL comparator, recently cited by La Tribune Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, more than 200 5G antennas have already been installed in Lyon.
In Grenoble, 45 branches equip the city according to the same barometer.
Mayor EELV Eric Piolle lamented that town halls do not actually have the legal means to oppose the deployment of 5G in their municipality.
“The government has tied the hands of local elected officials in the area.
There is a democratic problem.
In court, each time, the operators win (...) We have no choice, it starts without us, we are not aware, it goes like that ”
, he declared. February on France Inter.
Paris, Rennes, Nantes, Strasbourg: charter and citizens' debates
In Paris, after the citizens' conference organized at the end of December, a new mobile telephony charter will be submitted to the Paris council in March.
The signing of this voluntary charter by the town hall and the operators (Bouygues Telecom, Free Mobile, Orange and SFR) will pave the way for the commercial launch of 5G in Paris
"in the coming weeks"
.
In Rennes, a
"study mission on 5G",
led by a municipal councilor, was set up in mid-November and must present its recommendations to the municipal council on March 29.
Ditto in Nantes, where the launch of a public debate in February and March 2021 was announced in early December.
Read also: 5G: French telecom operators ramp up
While Strasbourg launched a citizens' conference in early December, the conclusions of which have not yet been made public, Orange has started to deploy its 5G network in the city in early February.
“Orange is the only operator to have committed not to deploy 5G within a hundred meters of schools, nurseries and hospitals,”
Caroline Zorn, vice-president of the Eurometropolis of Strasbourg, told the Latest News from Alsace. , responsible for digital.
Marseille, Toulouse, Nice, Montpellier: network welcome
From Nice, the first French city covered by the mobile network since the end of November, to Marseille, via Montpellier and Toulouse, 5G has not created a stir.
"There was no fierce opposition, we consulted the citizens on the new uses enabled by this innovation, 5G, this will strengthen the attractiveness of our territory"
, assured AFP in mid-December. Bertrand Serp, Vice-President of Toulouse Métropole in charge of the digital transition.
