2021-03-15 Miseong Kwak, Paris Trade Center, France
-Trend of digital convergence such as telemedicine and information security-
– Accelerated expansion of global IT companies' investment in France –
In July 2018, France quickly announced a roadmap for 7G expansion among EU member states, and commercialization of the service has recently begun in earnest. Currently, 5G service is provided in more than 1 regions across France, centering on large cities such as Bordeaux, Lyon, Grenoble, Nice, Toulouse, and Montpellier, and the French government aims to provide 5G service throughout the country by 2030. In the case of Paris, the capital city, as of mid-March, the service of the telecommunications company (FREE) was opened.
Number of 5G base station antennas by city in France as of September 2020
Source: statista
Currently, France's leading telecom operators Orange, SFR, Bouygues, and Free are aggressively investing in 5G services. In particular, Orange, the largest telecommunications company in France, is providing or preparing 5G services in other European countries. In Belgium, it established a joint venture (JV) with Proximus, was assigned 5G frequencies in Spain, and is preparing to launch 5G services with Nokia in Poland (Orange Polska SA). In addition, Orange Slovakia announced the launch of 2021G service in April 4, and Orange Romania launched 5G service in November 2020 (B1B) earlier than the original schedule in Q2019 5, providing 2G service with a maximum download of 1.2Gbps and an average download of 600Mbps.
French government invests and fosters digital convergence such as telemedicine and information security based on 5G infrastructure
On January 1, the French government announced the 8th investment program for the future (PIA200; 5ème program d'investissements d'avenir), a five-year future industry investment plan worth 4 billion euros, and '4G et futures technologies de réseaux de télécommunications' was introduced into France's main economy and industries (automotive, aviation, medical, fourth industry, culture and media, education, research) , security and national defense) as a core infrastructure to secure future competitiveness.
In addition, the French government recently launched a 5G-related investment project as part of the France Relance. Four projects, Alsatis' «4G Vertical ISS », Thales Six GTS'« Beyond 5G », Sequans' «CRIIoT », and Alcatel Lucent's« Euro-CDIC », have been selected and will receive a total of 5 million euros from the local government. to be.
First, Alsatis' 5G Vertical ISS project is a project to utilize 5G technology in Toulouse National University Hospital (CHU de Toulouse). 5G technology is used to check the distance between medical devices and the current availability of each medical device to determine the location of Alzheimer's patients or to communicate between medical staff during patient transfer.
Thales Six GTS' Beyond 5G project is a project planned through a consortium such as Ericsson, Eurecom, l'Institut Mines Télécom, etc., and is a rapid and flexible digital convergence for companies that want to diversify the application of future technologies after 5G. It aims to make it possible to build a solution.
Sequans' CRIIoT (Critical IoT) project aims to develop solutions that can quickly evaluate 4G and 5G solutions within the enterprise to connect products and optimize safe use. In particular, Sequans announced that it expects this technology to be used in secure communications devices for rail and aviation applications.
Euro-CDIC of Alcatel-Lucent, a subsidiary of Nokia, is a R&D center project specializing in network cyber security technology. Within this center, Alcatel-Lucent aims to identify telecommunication network security issues by establishing cybersecurity service models and consulting services for French and European customers. The center will be installed in Lannion, Brittany, France.
Global companies such as Ericsson, Qualcomm, Huawei, etc. expand investment in France
Sweden's Ericsson, which was selected as a 5G equipment supplier for Orange, France's largest telecommunications company, opened a 2020G R&D center in Massy, near Paris, in January 1. In February 5, along with the expansion of the research center, a research project centered on automation and artificial intelligence was announced, and plans to recruit 2021 researchers by 2 were announced.
Also, on January 2021, 1, Qualcomm of the United States announced plans to open a new 29G R&D center in France. The new research centers will be located in Lannion, Brittany, and Issy-Les-Moulineaux, near Paris. The new R&D center is said to be the result of a long collaboration with the French government. In particular, Lanyon, where the research center will be located, is a city where telecommunication-related companies such as Orange, the largest telecommunications company in France, are investing. It is known that Orange's newly built headquarters building will be a building that makes the most of its 5G service.
Huawei's investment in France is also continuing, with the opening of the Mathematics Research Institute in 2016 and the establishment of the sixth research center in Paris, France in 2020. In December 2020, Chinese company Huawei announced that it would build its first overseas plant in France. This was announced after the French president announced that he would not completely rule out Huawei, but after it was officially announced to some extent that Huawei's 5G equipment usage period was shorter than that of Ericsson and Nokia products. Received.
The plant will be located in Brumath, located in northeastern France, close to Strasbourg, France and Baden-Baden, Germany. The investment scale is 2 million euros, and it is planned to open in 2023 and employ up to 500 people. This place is known as a factory for not only semiconductors and main boards, but also 5G equipment, and the annual output is expected to be around 10 billion euros.
Recently, the French daily Le Monde published an article stating that "China's giant Huawei is intensively lobbying French policy makers." Le Monde describes several lobbying activities in Huawei's'affaires publiques' department in France, and concludes that the main goal of the department is to meet with French President Macron. He also mentioned the fact that Huawei first proposed to President Macron at the end of 2019 that it was willing to set up a factory in France through the Ministry of Finance and Economy.
Expert opinion and implications
In 2017, British market research firm IHS Markit predicted that 5G would have a huge economic impact on the global economy, and that large and small economic effects would occur in almost every sector. Among them, Germany would benefit the most in Europe, and France was expected to have an economic impact of $850 billion and create 40 jobs. Since then, 5G services in France have been commercialized relatively slowly, but the French government has recently focused on 19G as a strategy for post-COVID-5 economic stimulus measures, so the market situation is expected to change rapidly.
In particular, the French telecommunications equipment market is expected to record a large growth rate this year. Roberta, Gartner’s French market manager, explained in an interview with the KOTRA Paris Trade Center that “COVID-1919 has increased dependence on digital technology, but on the other hand, it has made it difficult to purchase products,” and predicted that sales of 5G smartphones will increase significantly this year.
In April 2019, the US Wireless Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) selected Korea as one of the countries most well prepared for 4G (The Global Race to 5G Spring 5 update). Ookla, which operates the Internet speed measurement site 'Speed Test', announced that Seoul was the fastest as a result of measuring the 2019G speed of the iPhone 2020 in 4 major cities in the world in the fourth quarter of 15. Recalling that there were no cities in France among the 12 major cities, we can feel the gap in the development speed of 5G services between Korea and France. France's Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment, Franck Riester, who visited Korea at the end of 15, announced plans to increase cooperation between Korea and France in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI) and 5G (fifth-generation mobile communication).
Source: French Ministry of Finance and Economy (Ministere de l'economie des Finances et de la Relance), daily newspaper Les echos, L'Usine Digitale, Europe1, LeMonde, Nextinpact, Kotra Paris Trade Center data Synthesis