Thanks to 5G, station users can easily navigate and take full advantage of their mobile connection, whatever their uses: telephone communications, access to online information, mobile payments, audio and video streaming, etc.
The advantage for both users and the building structure is that the networks of three cell phone operators are shared within the same TDF antennas and equipment. In Metz, TDF has deployed several antennas in visible areas of the station, and houses the operators' technical equipment underground.
Metz railway station, a testing ground for 5G
For the past five months, TDF has chosen Metz railway station as the site for an experiment to deploy a 5G network, in addition to an existing 4G network, on the same infrastructure. To achieve this, TDF's engineering teams reused and upgraded DAS (Distributed Antenna System) equipment already deployed. This technology has enabled the arrival of 5G in Metz station.
TDF has a long-standing presence in Metz, where its Engineering Center of Expertise is located. Here, TDF teams carry out modeling studies on the propagation of radio waves, as well as numerous indoor radio engineering projects. The studies and analyses developed here are then deployed in subways, road tunnels, buildings and stadiums throughout France.
60 stations equipped by the end of 2023
Since 2017, SNCF Gares & Connexions, responsible for operating France's 3,000 stations, has trusted TDF to deploy telecommunications infrastructure, in and around stations, with the aim of bringing mobile coverage to users and improving the customer experience.
By the end of 2023, more than 60 stations will be equipped, with a further 30 planned for completion by the end of 2024. TDF deploys antennas for coverage in confined spaces (known as DAS, for Distributed Antenna System), then offers them to the various telephone operators.
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In figures
- 5 DAS (Distributed Antenna System) antennas, installed in Metz station
- 8 million passengers a year pass through Metz station
- 60 stations equipped by the end of 2023
- 90 stations equipped by the end of 2024
Morgane Castanier, Customer, Marketing & Technology Director at SNCF Gares & Connexions:
"Thanks to our partnership with operator TDF, we have been able to bring 5G to France's leading station, Metz. This illustrates SNCF Gares & Connexions' determination to bring more services to stations, making them more modern and practical, for the greater satisfaction of our customers. It is also the reflection of a strong ambition, that of making people want to use stations to encourage the most ecological mode of transport, that of the train."
Roland Chedlivili, co-CEO of TDF's Towerco BU, comments: "In collaboration with our partner SNCF Gares et Connexions, we are honored that this first indoor 5G experiment will be carried out in Metz, where TDF has historically been established and where our indoor radio expertise center is located. TDF's experts are proud to be working alongside operators to develop the infrastructures we deploy, so that everyone can benefit from the latest generation of mobile connectivity.