SFR, standing for Société française du radiotéléphone, is a French telecommunications company and the second oldest mobile network operator in France. The company was established in 1987 by its then-parent company, Compagnie Générale des Eaux (CGE), to provide a 1G mobile phone service in competition with France Télécom's Radiocom 2000 network. SFR also became the second French mobile network operator to launch 2G GSM services in 1992. In 1996, CGE restructured SFR and its other telecommunications activities into a new holding company, SFR-Cegetel, which provided fixed-line telecommunication services and became a major internet service provider. Vodafone held a 44% share in SFR until 2011 when it was sold back to Vivendi, SFR's founding parent company. In 2014, Vivendi announced its intention to sell its SFR division. After negotiations, Altice/Numericable acquired SFR, with the SFR brand replacing Numericable in 2015.
In addition to domestic telecommunications, the company also offers services in the Overseas Departments of France: in the Caribbean islands of Martinique, Guadeloupe, and in Guyane as well as in the Indian Ocean, in Mayotte and on the Réunion island.
3G Network
The company provided 2G GSM over the 900 and 1800 MHz bands, and implemented 3G UMTS in May 2006 over the B1 (2100 MHz) band. 3G was extended in September 2009 with a B8 (900 MHz) network, and received data upgrades to HSPA+ in September 2010 and DC-HSPA+ in March 2012.
A shutdown date of end-of-year 2028 has been indicated.
3G Frequency Bands
| Network Frequency Band | Status |
|---|---|
|
Active
|
|
|
Active
|
3G Network Events
| Date | Event | Subtype |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Launch of 3G Network
|
Launch
|
4G Network
4G LTE began November 2012 over the B7 (2600 MHz) and B20 (800 MHz) bands. LTE-A with 2C aggregation was implemented in October 2014, providing peak data rates of up to 187.5 Mbps. May 2016 saw the activation of B3 (1800 MHz) LTE, and subsequently the network was upgraded to support 3C carrier aggregation, supporting peak rates of 337 Mbps. June 2017 saw the addition of B1 (2100 MHz) LTE following ARCEP approvals. LTE-A Pro with 4x4 MIMO and 256QAM was tested in June 2017 in partnership with Huawei, demonstrating data rates of up to 628 Mbps, with rollout expected during 2018.
4G Frequency Bands
| Network Frequency Band | Max. Channel Bandwidth | Status | Known EARFCNs |
|---|---|---|---|
|
20
|
Active
|
78
|
|
|
20
|
Active
|
1501
|
|
|
15
|
Active
|
2825
|
|
|
20
|
Active
|
6300
|
|
|
5
|
Active
|
9235
|
4G Network Events
| Date | Event | Subtype |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Launch of 4G Network
|
Launch
|
5G Network
In May 2018, in partnership with Huawei 5G NR was trialled over the n78 (3500 MHz) band, achieving 1.6 Gbps. Further tests conducted in October 2018 achieved peak DL data rates of 2.3 Gbps. SFR expanded its 5G testing to the cities of Toulouse and Nantes in May 2018. The network was commercially launched in November 2020 using n1 (DSS) and n78 (3500 MHz), a first for the country.
5G Frequency Bands
| Network Frequency Band | Max. Channel Bandwidth | Status |
|---|---|---|
|
15
|
Active
|
|
|
80
|
Active
|
5G Network Events
| Date | Event | Subtype |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Launch of 5G Network
|
Launch
|