Orange announced that its enterprise customers will be welcomed to visit the ‘Symbiose’ project, an Industry 4.0 production plant built by Lacroix Electronics in the French town of Montrevault-sur-Evre (Pays de la Loire region). The operator has equipped the factory with an indoor 5G network running on trial spectrum to test a number of use cases, including a modular approach to the production of Lacroix’s components, predictive maintenance, and improved energy management. The two partners unveiled their collaboration in April 2019, when Orange also announced several other 5G trials with companies including Schneider Electric and French rail operator SNCF.

Due to launch officially in late 2021, the ‘Symbiose’ project has been described as a factory of the future. Orange has deployed a virtualised network core and has used four Ericsson Dot indoor radio units to cover the production site. Among its industrial applications, 5G will power sensors monitoring temperature and hydrometric conditions, essential in the manufacturing of components such as electronic cards for the aviation sector. The operarator said that 5G connectivity will be able to support up to one million sensors per km² in compliance with 3GPP's 5G standards.