All connected to 5G by 2025 in Luxembourg
The telephone operators are working hard for the new network which is only available in a few cities at the moment.
The national 5G deployment strategy in Luxembourg, presented by the government in 2018, is part of the EU action plan for fifth generation telecommunications networks which provides for 5G coverage of all inhabited areas in 2030, compared to 14% in 2021.
In this context, Luxembourg is in the leading European peloton while it is already one of the most connected countries in Europe.
In July 2020, the Luxembourg Regulatory Institute (ILR) thus auctioned the frequencies in the low (700 MHz) and median (3.6 GHz) band required for the new 5G network and four operators now share the market: Poste, Orange, Proximus (Tango) and Luxembourg Online. All have committed to ensuring 90% 5G coverage of the territory by 2025 and to pay royalties to the State for a total amount of 41 million euros over a period of 15 years.
In the process, the operators chose their equipment and launched work to update the various infrastructures on the existing 2G, 3G and 4G stations initially, while waiting for the specific 5G infrastructures. So that in October 2020, the marketing of the first subscription offers including 5G could start.
Post is speeding up and getting ahead
At the end of 2020, on the Post side, ten sites had already been commissioned to offer coverage in Luxembourg, and in recent months, the deployment has continued in the North and East, with branches in Esch, Ettelbruck, Diekirch and in the region of Christnach and Waldbillig. Last May, the operator announced its ambition to achieve 5G coverage of 90% of the country’s population before the 2025 deadline promised to the government.
As for concerns about the proliferation of antennas and electromagnetic wave emissions from the 5G network, the Media, Communications and Digital Service, which coordinates the implementation of the national strategy within the Ministry of State ensures that ‘in the Grand Duchy, the level of emission from antennas is one of the lowest in the EU.
He also recalls that by warning his mobile phone, it is better to opt for a device whose SAR (specific absorption rate) does not exceed 2 W / kg. This indicator makes it possible to evaluate the quantity of waves emitted by a connected object: for example, the SAR of the iPhone 13 peaks at 0.95.
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Christelle Brucker