Orange France has started a LTE pilot in Marseille and plans to offer 4G in Lyon and Nantes by the end of the year. Operator will add 12 other cities by summer 2013. Orange will provide 4G equipments to 2,500 testers including Group employees and mass market and business customers to discover 4G services in Marseille, Lyon and Nantes.

Operator will broadcast the Sosh Freestyle Cup live on its 4G network to demonstrate both the performance (continual flow of data at several Mbit/s) and the extent of its 4G network in Marseille where it covers the entire city. Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 and Huawei's E392 4G key & E589 4G Domino are part of these demonstrations.

Orange had obtained a combination of 4G frequencies 2.6 GHz and 800 MHz, in late 2011. The first 4G commercial offers will be launched in the coming months.