Good news if you are a Free Mobile customer: the operator is taking advantage of a reorganization of its frequencies to increase the 4G speed in France. You will be able to surf and download faster, without increasing the price!

Good news if you are a Free Mobile customer: the operator is taking advantage of a reorganization of its frequencies to increase the 4G speed in France. You will be able to surf and download faster, without increasing the price!

While most mobile phone operators are preparing to increase the prices of their packages (see our article), Free Mobile announces an increase that will certainly please its subscribers. And for good reason: it is not a price increase – Free has undertaken not to raise them for five years – but an increase in 4G speed. Excellent news – especially at this rather gloomy end of the year… – which will allow its subscribers to benefit from a faster connection and therefore to surf and download faster, without having to change anything. Because there is no manipulation to perform or special option to subscribe: this improvement will be automatic.

“We have increased the bandwidth of LTE 2100 frequencies to 15 MHz on most of the territory. The Paris region should be switched over for the beginning of 2023. You benefit from additional 4G speeds automatically “explains Free Mobile in a message published on December 21, 2022 on one of the Twitter accounts.

4G Free Mobile: 15 MHz of bandwidth on the 2100 MHz frequency

In fact, the increase in speed comes from a small technical change related to the bandwidth authorized on a frequency used by Free Mobile. Arcep, the organization that manages everything related to telecommunications in France, had in fact allocated several 4G frequencies to Free, as to other operators (see table). However, on the 2100 MHz frequency, Free for a long time only used a fairly small bandwidth of 5 MHz, which limited the quantity of data transmitted, and therefore the speed. Thanks to the Mobile New Deal – an agreement signed in 2018 between the State, Arcep and mobile operators aimed at improving the quality and coverage of the mobile network in France – Free had obtained authorization to increase this bandwidth. at 15 MHz, which is much more comfortable. Since 2021, the operator could use this additional bandwidth: but he preferred to first test the evolution in Bordeaux – his usual city for the tests in situ – before extending it to the rest of the territory. What is done today.

Improved 4G at Free Mobile: the provinces first, then Paris

Upgrading sites – Free Mobile has more than 5,200 4G antennas in France according to the ANFR December statement – to activate this new bandwidth is progressive. It only concerns sites that have already been in operation for several years, the new ones being already compatible and operational since September 2022. Note that Free Mobile had to deactivate 3G on the 2100 MHz frequency on its antennas to avoid interference between the two standard modes. In addition, it should be noted that if this increased 4G is available throughout the territory, it is not yet available in Paris and Île-de-France: Ile-de-France residents will have to wait until early 2023 to take advantage of it, the time to upgrade sites.

Finally, remember that there is no adjustment to be made on smartphones or tablets to benefit from this increase in 4G speed: the vast majority of mobiles available in France are compatible with the B1 band, centered on the frequency 2100 MHz – unlike the B28 band, around 700 MHz (see our article on 4G frequencies). It’s a nice little surprise gift that Free Mobile is giving its subscribers for Christmas, with a nice development that should help the operator finally offer better 4G, a point on which it is regularly pointed out by Arcep ( see our article).