France's supreme court (Conseil d'Etat) has published a first decision on the appeal launched by two French associations against the government's decrees setting in motion the country's 5G spectrum auction. As part of the ruling, the judge explained that there was no urgency to justify a suspension of the government's decrees and that the appeal case would be examined by the court before the summer.
In terms of timing, the auction is due to enter its final stage during April and operators should be awarded licences by June at the latest. This has led the judge to conclude that the first 5G services will only go live at the start of the summer, removing the need for immediate intervention.
Environmental group Agir and Priartem, an organisation campaigning on electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS), are calling for an official assessment of the ecological impact and health risks associated with 5G, in application of the principle of precaution and EU regulation on consumer protection. The two NGOs have also invited the public to sign a petition demanding a temporary halt to 5G deployments in France.
