The Toulouse operator Alsatis wins a European project, and will create a 5G network for Toulouse Métropole
Alsatis seduced Europe. The Toulouse telecom operator has just won a European call for projects to build a 5G network on the Toulouse Métropole network.
This “Hi5 – High Connectivity” project is being deployed in several key sites in the city: Tisséo, Francazal, the MEETT, the Stadium, etc. A private and secure 5G network should facilitate the management of crowds or red lights, in particular. Details with Antoine Roussel, CEO of Alsatis.
France Bleu Occitanie: what does being the winner of this call for projects mean? Public funding?
Antoine Roussel: The file has been very noticed at the level of the European Union, on an EU of excellent marks, because it is a very concrete project. And from the moment when Europe makes us winners of this project, it grants us a subsidy. It is around 4 million euros (4,390,000), which is shared between Toulouse Métropole and Alsatis. We only recover 10% of this amount. With this grant, Toulouse Métropole will be responsible for buying all the equipment that will make up the network. We then build it.
This 5G network will be used for several things… and in particular to manage places where there are crowds, right?
The goal is to give additional capacity to specific sites that welcome the public. Toulouse is a city which is the subject of significant tourist flows, which is also the subject of a competitiveness cluster linked to aeronautics, etc.
Toulouse, in the context of upcoming events such as the Rugby World Cup, needs to equip itself with additional capacities, both to ensure security and to ensure all the communications that will be necessary within the framework of these events.
But this network will also be deployed on other infrastructures, such as cultural or university sites, etc.
This network will also help to manage road traffic, traffic lights?
Today, there is fiber optic connectivity which makes it possible to connect a certain number of street furniture, and in particular traffic lights, but not everywhere. And 5G will make it possible to extend this level of connectivity over the entire perimeter of Toulouse Métropole.
In any case, it is part of the targeted applications. Traffic lights, like public lighting, like surveillance cameras. All street furniture, which always wants to be more adapted to the needs of our citizens, needs this technology to reinvent itself.
Does this type of project boost your business? Alsatis is a great success in Toulouse…
The year 2023 will undoubtedly be intense. 2021 and several calls for, projects won, we are now at more than 3 million euros in investments. And for an SME company of still reasonable size, which has a turnover of 15 million euros, that’s a lot.
But it is a necessary step to succeed in products, services, and an interesting portfolio that meets market needs. These investments were necessary to project us forward and be able to create wealth for France first and I hope for Europe. This is our ambition.
And above all also for the Toulouse region. We were born here, we have always been more than respected, accompanied by local prescribers. And we obviously won’t forget Occitania in our future plans, that’s obvious.