By expanding its window for 5G trials in the 3.8 – 4.0 GHz band to the 4.0 – 4.2 GHz band, Arcep is satisfying demand from manufacturers and stakeholders wanting to assess their local mobile network projects for business use cases across the entire 3.8 – 4.2 GHz band. The assignment rules established for this window can be found on the Arcep website.
175 frequency licences issued since 2022 as part of this 5G trial window
In March 2022, Arcep opened a trial window in 3.8 – 4.0 GHz band for manufacturers and businesses wanting to trial new 5G use cases. The goal was to satisfy the mobile connectivity needs of “vertical” users (manufacturers, logisticians, energy and health sector companies and smart city stakeholders) that may want to use a private 4G/5G networks to deliver new services or improve their operational performance.
Arcep has issued 175 frequency licences since 2022, as part of its window for trials in the 3.8 – 4.0 GHz band. Among the trials conducted thanks to these licences, around 90 of them were still ongoing at the end of Q2 2025.
Arcep has a positive assessment of this window, and notes the diversity of the stakeholders involved, covering a wide range of economic sectors (industry, energy, health and special events) and this in multiple regions across Metropolitan France. Details on these trials can be found in the dashboard of 5G trials published on the Arcep website (in French).
Following requests from businesses wanting to trial private mobile network projects and thereby evaluate 5G use cases in the 4.0 – 4.2 GHz band, Arcep is expanding its trial window to the entire 3.8 – 4.2 GHz band.
At the same time, Arcep continues to work on establishing a regulatory framework with a view to opening a long-term assignment window for 3.8 – 4.2 GHz band frequencies
In June 2025, Arcep confirmed plans to establish a local assignment framework for the 3.8 – 4.2 GHz band for the deployment of local mobile networks for business purposes and, to this end, launched a public consultation on 2 June 2025 on a draft procedure for assigning 3.8 – 4.2 GHz band frequencies in Metropolitan France, along with a draft decision setting forth the technical conditions governing use of that spectrum.
Arcep is in the process of analysing the responses it received to this consultation – as the European Commission is working on the adoption of a decision on harmonised technical conditions for shared use of the 3.8 – 4.2 GHz band in the European Union – with a view to:
- submitting a decision setting forth the technical conditions for using the 3.8 – 4.2 GHz band to France’s Minister responsible for electronic communications for approval;
- publishing the procedure for assigning frequencies in the band, to come into effect before the end of 2025.