Free Mobile: the first to deploy 5G SA, a major step forward for subscribers
Free 5G subscribers have reason to rejoice © voronaman/Shutterstock
There's no doubt about it, Free loves 5G. After launching a special no-commitment plan with 110 GB of 5G at €7.99 per month for life on Veepee, the operator decided on September 18 to take on the speed competition around 5G SA. Free announced that it was the first to offer this technology on its public network, which covers no less than 95% of the French population. More precisely, 5G SA is activated on the 6,950 sites offering 5G 3.5 GHz, out of a total of 20,000 5G sites in service.
What is 5G SA?
But now you're probably thinking: “But tell me Jammy, what is 5G SA?” Well, it's very simple. 5G SA (for Standalone Access) is a 5G network that is in opposition to 5G NSA (Non-Standalone Access), which you probably use today. 5G SA uses dedicated and independent infrastructures, not relying on elements designed for 4G.
In short, thanks to its own hardware, 5G SA aims to be more efficient, with increased speeds, lower latency and ever higher reliability. The average person may see little difference, but professional users, on the other hand, should see new operating possibilities.
The competition's reaction should not be long in coming © Shutterstock
In addition, in parallel with 5G SA, Free is also the first operator to offer the VoNR (Voice over New Radio) option today. This is the replacement for VoLTE in 4G, allowing voice calls to be made in 5G, for “faster call setup times, reduced latency, better voice quality and even longer phone battery life.”
The good news is that all Free 5G subscribers can benefit from 5G SA at no extra cost. On condition, of course, that they are within range of a Free 3.5 GHz tower. The operator currently offers to manually activate access via the customer area options. The aim is probably to avoid saturating its new network, before activating it more generally by default at a later date.
The bad news is that you need to have a compatible terminal to benefit from 5G SA. Free is in discussions with many manufacturers, who must activate it manually. For the moment, the only ones guaranteed to be compatible are the latest Samsung smartphones. A list, which notably indicates the VoNR compatible terminals, can be found online.
