Bad news if you live in or own a condominium: a new, unavoidable charge will be added to the other current expenses of your building starting next year.
If you live in or own a condominium, you know that common charges increase every year, at least due to inflation. However, 2025 could see a more significant increase, not because of a regulatory change or a new law, but because of a technological transition that has been underway for several years.
In France, as everywhere else in the world, telephone and mobile data networks are regularly evolving to adapt to the increase in traffic, the number of devices and new uses. Mobile telecommunications infrastructures have therefore undergone several technological generations, more commonly referred to as 2G, 3G, 4G and finally 5G.
However, the two oldest, namely 2G and 3G, will be gradually abandoned by the various operators. In France, the 2G network will be closed on December 31, 2025 at Orange, then on December 31, 2026 at Bouygues and SFR. As for the 3G network, its end will follow just a few years later, in 2028 at Orange and SFR, and in 2029 at Bouygues Telecom.
After these deadlines, it will be mandatory to use the fourth and fifth generation networks, 4G and 5G therefore, to continue communicating on mobile networks. And if most smartphones in circulation today are compatible with these technologies, this is not the case for many communicating devices that surround us, and in particular elevators.
These devices, which are very common in multi-story apartment buildings, must be equipped with an emergency alert and communication system, called a telealarm. This system allows you to send an automatic signal to the maintenance company in the event of a breakdown, or to call an operator if you find yourself stuck in a cabin.
Historically, elevator telealarms relied on the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), or “copper network”, before gradually migrating to mobile communication networks. With the planned shutdown of the historic copper network and the upcoming shutdown of 2G and 3G networks, a large number of elevator telealarms will have to be modified.
And this change is obviously not free. In addition to the cost of installing the 4G/5G telecommunications module, you will need to take out a specific subscription for this type of device, of the Machine-to-Machine (M2M) and multi-operator type, to guarantee optimal operational reliability. Most elevator companies offer turnkey packages, including installation, maintenance, subscription and troubleshooting, but at prices that can vary greatly from one company to another.
So, if your condominium has a lift whose remote alarm is not yet compatible with 4G and 5G mobile networks, you will certainly have to vote for its change at the general meeting as early as 2025… and expect to see your charges increase accordingly. To limit costs, do not hesitate to put the offer that the company responsible for maintaining the lift makes to you in competition with that of an alternative operator, because you can quite easily entrust the maintenance and the remote alarm subscription to two different service providers.