Cell towers and exposure in France: limits, measurements and your rights
Cell Site Map · Published 4 November 2026
The legal exposure limits for mobile antennas in France, how to get a free official measurement at home, where to find past measurement results, and what the town hall must be told before a new antenna is installed.
Many people want to know what a mast near their home means for exposure to radio waves. In France this is a regulated area with public information and a free measurement scheme. This guide explains the rules and where to find official answers; it does not give medical advice.
The legal limits
French regulations set maximum exposure levels for the public, measured as electric field strength in volts per metre (V/m). The limit depends on frequency. For the bands used by mobile networks it ranges from about 36 V/m at 700 MHz to 61 V/m at 2100 MHz and above, including the 3.5 GHz 5G band.
| Band | Approximate limit |
|---|---|
| 700 MHz | 36 V/m |
| 800 MHz | 39 V/m |
| 900 MHz | 41 V/m |
| 1800 MHz | 58 V/m |
| 2100 MHz, 2600 MHz, 3.5 GHz | 61 V/m |
These values come from the European recommendation adopted in French law. The ANFR, the national frequency agency, checks compliance and can order a carrier to reduce its emissions.
Free official measurements
Anyone in France can ask for an exposure measurement at their home or in a public place, free of charge. The request is made using an official form (available on service-public.fr) and must be signed by an approved body, such as the town hall or an approved association. The measurement is carried out by an independent accredited laboratory and funded by a national scheme, not by the requester.
The results are sent to the requester and published on the ANFR's Cartoradio map, where you can also look up measurements already made near you. In most measurements the level found is a small fraction of the limits; the ANFR also identifies "atypical points", where exposure is notably higher than average, and works with carriers to reduce it.
What the town hall must be told
Before installing or substantially changing an antenna, a carrier must send an information file to the town hall (the "dossier d'information mairie"). It describes the project and its expected exposure. The mayor can make it available to residents and, in some cases, ask for a simulation of exposure. Planning permission rules also apply to new masts.
Finding the antennas near you
To see which masts are near your home and which way their antennas point, search your address on the map and turn on the sector directions. Antennas send most of their energy in the direction they face and slightly downwards, so being right below a mast usually means lower exposure than being in front of it at a distance. Our guide What is a cell site? explains sectors and azimuths.
Your phone versus the mast
A mast is usually tens or hundreds of metres away, while a phone in use is held against your head or body. Phones have their own exposure indicator, the specific absorption rate (SAR, called DAS in France), which must be displayed where phones are sold. A phone also transmits at a higher power when the signal is weak, so good network coverage tends to reduce the phone's own emissions.
Health questions
In France, ANSES (the national agency for food, environmental and occupational health and safety) publishes expert assessments of radiofrequency exposure, including on 5G. For questions about health effects, its reports and your doctor are the right sources, rather than any map, including ours.