The Paris commercial court has rejected the case brought by Orange against Free Mobile over misleading commercial practices with regard to 5G marketing, reports La Tribune. The dispute, which originated in 2021, could continue in appeal, after Orange said it was surprised at the court’s decision and was considering whether to carry on the legal proceedings.
The court dismissed Orange’s complaint that Free has been claiming to have the largest 5G coverage in France without giving consumers enough information about the different performance of the spectrum bands delivering the service. This argument was rejected as the fact that Free’s network is compliant with 5G standards remains undisputed.
Free has been consistently ahead of rivals in terms of overall active 5G cell sites thanks to its extensive 700 MHz footprint. Orange said that the use of 700 MHz frequencies for 5G resulted in speeds not much different to those delivered by LTE services, arguing that this could mislead consumers on the real benefits of 5G. The operator, unlike Free, has focused its 5G deployment efforts on 3.5 GHz coverage.
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