"Bad players".This is how Thomas Reynaud, the director general of Iliad, the Mother house of Free, qualifies his competitors in an interview with the gallery.Orange in particular had hardwords against the 5G of Free Mobile, described as "false 5G" due to the retraining of the 700 MHz antennas which were used for 4G.This tip allows free to brew on the largest 5G coverage in France, and this is indeed the case (read: deployment of 5G: Free Mobile has more than 7,000 open sites).

But the flows offered by this frequency band are not exceptional compared to a classic 4G.In terms of performance, it is better to fall on 5G at 3.5 GHz of free than on its 5G at 700 MHz (read the testimonies of our readers)."We deploy our 5G network on all frequency bands, like any operator in Europe", explains the manager, who notes "that on the frequencies 700 MHz, but also on 3.5 GHz frequencies, we are very far ahead of Bouygues and SFR ».And it does not lie: free mobile is indeed well placed in the activation of sites in 3.5 GHz.

Another reproach addressed to Free: the launch of 5G for no additional cost, "when some have done exactly the opposite".But the fact remains that the result is the same: "We have been investing for 18 months in the deployment of our 5G network, and it is today in an incontestably the largest in France in number of sites".

Thomas Reynaud also returns to the pooling of 5G networks between Orange and Free, which ultimately corporated due to a "divergence of deployment strategy", according to the historic operator.The Director General of Free confirms this divergence and deplores "endless discussions".

On the other hand, he calls for a “maximum” sharing of passive infrastructures (like pylons): “There is both an environmental issue but also of defense of the beauty of the French landscapes.This makes sense, because the four operators will collectively deploy 30,000 sites over the next six or seven years ”.

Iliad, who signed a happy new year 2020 despite the health crisis, recently launched on the business market with a Free Pro offer.Thomas Reynaud estimates that this market is "totally locked", "little competitive with unclogged French companies".According to him, Free has a "strong legitimacy" to meet this need.