First contract signed by Cellnex for coverage of the Grand Paris Express

Bouygues Telecom will deliver its 3G/4G/5G services in the stations and tunnels of lines 16 and 17 via passive infrastructure deployed by Cellnex.

The Greater Paris metropolitan area occupies a leading position as an attractive, innovative and European capital region.
In order to strengthen the region’s dynamism over the coming decades, the challenge facing the region is to guarantee high-quality indoor and outdoor telecoms and mobile internet coverage to meet the needs of its citizens in terms of well-being, mobility and digital life.
By being the first national mobile operator to take part in the transport network of the Grand Paris Express, the new metro built by the Société du Grand Paris (renamed Société des grands projets on 27 December 2023), Bouygues Telecom is demonstrating the priority it attaches to the quality of experience of its customers.

Boulogne Billancourt, 14 February 2024

The Société des grands projets is determined to integrate a digital infrastructure as soon as the Grand Paris Express is brought into service to offer its users, in mobile situations, universal access to social networks, the professional environment and all digital services, with a quality of experience combining innovation, comfort and security.

Cellnex, Europe’s leading independent telecoms infrastructure operator, has been commissioned by the Société des grands projets to provide all mobile operators with passive infrastructure to enable them to offer their connectivity services in all the stations and tunnels between Saint-Denis Pleyel and Noisy-Champs (Line 16) and Charles de Gaulle airport (Line 17).

Drawing on its proven experience in Europe in the connectivity of special areas (offices, metro, tunnels, stadiums, shopping centres, hotels, etc.), Cellnex has launched the deployment phase of the passive infrastructure in 2023, consisting of a Distributed Antenna System (DAS) based on a ‘BTS Hotel’ architecture that will enable operators to broadcast their signal via 1,000 pieces of equipment (antennas and optical repeaters).

It is in this context that an initial agreement was signed between Cellnex and Bouygues Telecom in December 2023. Bouygues Telecom will provide 3G/4G/5G coverage of the stations and tunnels on lines L16 and L17 to offer its customers the best possible connected travel experience.

More generally, the offer proposed by Cellnex to mobile operators covers the 4 phases of the deployment of the lines by the Société des grands projets over a total period of 14.5 years, with the commercial opening of the Saint-Denis Pleyel station scheduled for June 2024 to coincide with the launch of the PARIS 2024 Olympic Games.