Presentation and launch of the 4G box Bouygues Telecom at Neuville de Poitou – Ariase

Posted by Didier Latil on Friday, 20 January 2017 at 20h17

The new 4G box launched on Monday 23 January, is an innovative solution launched by Bouygues Telecom, in order to bring the Very High-Speed, unlimited in homes via its 4G network on territories where ADSL coverage is insufficient…

It is this Friday, January 20, 2017 that Bouygues Telecom has invited the press, local elected officials, of the Vienna, but also Antoine Darodes of the Digital Agency, for the official presentation of its new mini-box Internet 4G 1P (only Internet) in a small commune on the outskirts of Poitiers, Neuville de Poitou.

This 4G box – tested under the code name Bboost (8 common, between October and December), is a small box that connects to the 4G mobile network Bouygues Telecom, in order to create in the house an Internet connection unlimited (no restriction on the envelope data mobile).

She can reach a speed of 115 Mb/s reception (and 38 Mbit/s in reception), which can connect up to 32 devices via WiFi in order to benefit from access to the Internet. It will be launched this Monday, January 23, 2017 on the first eligible areas…

A new offer 4G box 32,99€/month

This fix will be available in a first time only some of the areas identified as poorly equipped in terms of fixed Internet and well covered by 4G of Bouygues Telecom. It will be offered at the price of 29.99€/month +3€/month rental equipment.
The internet will not limited to the envelope data, or for uses which allow the use of PeerToPeer, Torrent, downloads, heavy (steam…), services videos such as Netflix/SFR Sport, voice-over-IP… No tv or telephone sets for the time directly from the box, the offer is said to be ‘single play’.

No commitment this is especially available with a free month trial (19€ activation fee and€ 19 million of the termination fee, not charged on the month trial !). This will allow users to test without risk, in order to check if they have a receipt from the 4G network of Bouygues Telecom and to find the best location before you purchase a subscription.
Another advantage is that, just as for an offer Bbox, you will be entitled to 10% discount on your forfais mobile Bouygues Telecom or B&You if you have a 4G box.

The 4G box in the detail

This small box is, in fact, the modem-router, 4G Huawei LTE Cube (E5180 4G), sold for around 150€ in trade (and proposed here in a rental 3€/month). It is compatible with the 4G class 4 on the frequency bands 800, 1800 and 2600 MHz but in single-band, without aggregation of frequencies (thus not compatible with 4G+/LTE-Advanced). It will connect, therefore in the 800 MHz or 1800 MHz (rarely 2600 MHz), on the antenna the closer, the choice is done automatically depending on the quality of the signal.
The rates announced by Bouygues Telecom is 115 Mbit/s download and 38 Mbit/s upload, even though technically, the 4G box can in theory support 150/50Mbps.
Whatever it is, switch to ADSL speeds of 2Mbit/s or 5Mbit/s, at 50, 60, or 115 Mbit/s, is already a good prior is essential for the users. This will allow millions of households to take advantage of the Internet in THD via 4G, while awaiting the potential arrival of the fibre-optic net work here some years.

For information, tested in twenty municipalities of Vienna, this 4G box would provide average flows of 30 to 40 Mbit/s in reception, while at the conference of Friday, January 20, we have reached speeds of 100 Mbit/s… You will have understood, this solution is also ideal for public places, shops, restaurants and friendly places who will be able to offer a WiFi Internet access to visitors/customers.

Who will be eligible for this 4G Box ?

Bouygues Telecom is intended to be a priority this box to areas that are poorly served by ADSL, and if this, in theory, 7 million households that are already potentially eligible, with 10 million at the end of march 2017, the operator shall not open the whole of this potential network to theeligibility of its 4G box.

Currently, Bouygues Telecom announces a 85% coverage of the population with its 4G network (it was at 82% in the latest figures given), which will place the operator in pole position to tie with Orange. Be careful, however, to this 4G box fixed, we are talking here about coverage of the territory, with a percentage very much lower, especially if one crosses this with areas where a large majority of households is poorly covered by ADSL of good quality (

phases of the trials will be launched, with an evolution of the areas concerned based on the demand and the capacity of the network to support a fair use unlimited. Let us not forget that the 4G network used is the same as that of the 4G network for the mobile packages of the operator. It will be necessary to ensure for Bouygues Telecom that the opening of these areas to the 4G box does not pose problems on the quality of the 4G network mobile…

The 4G box in the detail

This small box displays the following specifications :

• Dimensions : 70x70x110 mm and 250 grams
• Wi-fi b/g/n (IEEE 802.11 n) up to 300 Mbit/s, maximum range of 250 meters, 2 X 2 MIMO for up to 32 connected devices
• Compatible with 4G cat.4 (single-band) : 150 Mbit/s download, 50 Mbit/s for tx, 2 antennas 2.4 GHz, plug for external antenna to improve the reception of the 4G.
• Modem-router, 1 Ethernet 10/100, 1 RJ 41 (phone not used for the moment), 1 slot SIM card 1 memory card slot microSD

With this offer, 4G box, Bouygues Telecom offers a kind of evolution of its set-4G (Domino), but with as major difference that it isan offer fixed, for a home or a local. A priori, the 4G box will be associated to the antennas that cover your home, and you will not be able to take it e.g. with you on vacation in your rental…
It really is d’an alternative solution, and transient to address the digital divide in the territories, with ADSL connections lower than 5 Mbit/s many of the prospects to have the optical fiber is deployed which can be counted in years…

Relating to the optic fibre, Olivier Roussat (Chairman and ceo of Bouygues Telecom confirmed the 100 000 FTTH subscribers at the end of 2016, with new announcements that will be made by the operator Bouygues Telecom in a few weeks. Of what you need to complete the recent announcement of the arrival of the tender to Bouygues Telecom on the RIP, Axione, in a first already on the Vaucluse.

A limitation on the bandwidth for the video stream ?

The only shade that could tarnish part of this launch, would come from the initial announcement, denied a priori since, clamping to 2 Mbit/s for the video stream, which could limit the uses of video services and television OTT with the HD, and still. Indeed, even for the Netflix and other service of SVOD, flow rates of 3 to 5 Mbit/s are advised…

however, a priori, always, the VOD or the Replay will not be usable with the 4G box. Once again, this solution is designed for households who can not even take advantage of the Internet currently, and the interest of this 4G Box should meet with some success.
Knowing that the other operators also have similar tests in the project, and that we should expect announcements in Orange, and potentially in SFR or Free.