Bouygues Telecom, Orange, Capgemini, Atos secure RRF contracts from French interior ministry

France’s ministry of the interior said that it has earmarked an investment of EUR 700 million in RRF (Reseau Radio du Futur), a new LTE/5G national mobile communication system for the country’s security and emergency services. The project will deliver a secure, priority network for up to 300,000 to 400,000 end-users, serving the specific needs of gendarmerie, police, fire brigade and civil security personnel. 

The RRF project will see the building phase start in September. The network, relying first on LTE and later on 5G, will become fully operational from 2024, enabling multimedia services such as video.

Bouygues Telecom is among the companies selected by the interior ministry to deliver RRF, following a public tender process. The operator said that it will supply network coverage services and work on the development of new management capabilities, such as traffic prioritisation.

Orange Business Services will bring to the project its expertise in mobile connectivity, as the first operator connected to the new network. The Orange subsidiary will also collaborate on trials to improve network coverage for end-users. 

Capgemini said that it has secured ‘Lot 2’ of the RRF tender with its partner Airbus. This ‘Integrator, Core Network, MCX and Terminal’ contract will be delivered by a consortium supported by several other companies, including Econocom, Prescom, Samsung, Streamwide, Dell Technologies, Ericsson and Atos.

Atos will also lead the consortium responsible for ‘Lot 3’, to develop and supply the ‘Management IT System’ for RRF. The ICT group said that this framework agreement, worth EUR 43 million over seven years, will aim to meet specific business needs of different user categories, such as orders/invoices and equipment management.