Find Cell Towers in France: Orange, SFR, Bouygues and Free
Find Orange, SFR, Bouygues and Free Mobile antennas near you in France, read the network codes, fix a zone blanche, and aim a 4G/5G box at the right site.
France documents its antennas better than almost any country — the ANFR’s Cartoradio register lists every authorised site, and ARCEP’s Mon réseau mobile maps measured coverage — yet standing in a hamlet in the Creuse with one bar, you still want the practical answer: which antenne relais is nearest, whose is it, and which way should the box face? Cell Tower Finder & Locator maps the known antennas across France with each site’s operator, network generation, distance and compass bearing, on iPhone and Android, with the app’s interface available in French.
The networks on the map
| Operator | Network code (MCC-MNC) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Orange | 208-01 | Largest footprint; also behind Sosh |
| SFR | 208-10 | Also behind RED by SFR; shares rural sites with Bouygues |
| Free Mobile | 208-15 | Dense own network built since 2012; much of its 5G is on 700 MHz |
| Bouygues Telecom | 208-20 | Also behind B&You; shares rural sites with SFR |
France’s MVNOs — La Poste Mobile, Prixtel, NRJ Mobile, Lebara, Lyca and the rest — ride one of these four networks, so find out which host your SIM uses and filter to that. SFR and Bouygues share a single network in much of rural France, so a site may serve both; keep both filters on if you’re on either. The 2G switch-offs start at the end of 2025 and 3G follows around 2028–2029, operator by operator, so filter on 4G and 5G for data.
Where the antennas are, and why the band matters
- Cities have dense grids with 5G on 3.5 GHz spectrum: fast, but short-range and weak through stone walls.
- The New Deal Mobile of 2018 obliged every operator to build thousands of new rural sites, so villages that were zones blanches a few years ago often have a mast now — frequently a shared one.
- Mountains and coasts — the Alps, the Pyrenees, the Massif Central, the Breton coast — are still one-antenna country, served by low-band 700 and 800 MHz from a site on the next ridge, which is exactly where comparing operators before buying a gîte or a SIM pays for itself.
Antenna positions come from aggregated public and community-sourced data, so they’re close estimates rather than ANFR coordinates. Use Cartoradio for the official register and the map here for distance, bearing and the radar and AR views that get a box or an antenna pointed the right way.
Check the antenna before the gîte: See which networks have built around a village, a chalet or a flat — Cell Tower Finder & Locator is free on the App Store and Google Play and shows every nearby antenna with operator, generation, distance and bearing.
How to use the map in France
- Compare networks around an address before switching or moving — which carriers have towers near you shows the method, and checking cell coverage before moving covers the whole house-move checklist.
- Scout somewhere you haven’t been with pin drop: a gîte in the Dordogne, a chalet in Savoie, a flat in Lyon.
- Aim a box 4G/5G. Every operator sells a 4G/5G box for homes without fibre, and it is a small directional radio: the right window and the right bearing can double the speed. Use the radar view for the exact bearing and confirm with the built-in speed test — the technique is in pointing an antenna at a cell tower and the 4G/5G home internet antenna setup guide.
- Fix a zone blanche. An external directional antenna aimed at the one site that reaches you often beats changing operator; see better cell signal in rural areas.
5G on the map versus the icon on your phone
Free Mobile in particular runs much of its 5G on 700 MHz, which reaches far but delivers 4G-like speeds; the 5G people notice is the 3.5 GHz layer in towns, on all four operators. Most 5G sits on existing sites, so a record may show its 4G identity while your phone displays 5G. 4G vs 5G towers explains the mechanics, and finding 5G towers near you covers the bands.
FAQ
Is the app available in French?
Yes — the interface is localized in French, and the antenna data covers Orange, SFR, Bouygues Telecom and Free Mobile sites across metropolitan France. Positions are estimates from public and community-sourced data rather than ANFR records.
How is this different from Cartoradio?
Cartoradio is the official register of authorised sites and the right place to verify one. The app aggregates public and community-sourced data worldwide and adds what a register can’t: your distance and bearing to each site, filters by operator and generation, radar and AR views for aiming, and a speed test to confirm the result.
Can it show which antenna my phone is connected to?
On iPhone no app can; on Android your phone’s own settings can show the serving cell. The map’s job is to show every antenna around you so you know where better signal is coming from.
Get Cell Tower Finder & Locator on the App Store or on Google Play and see which antennas are really around you.