Martinique : la couverture mobile

Ce que veulent dire les chiffres de Martinique

Deux nombres comptent et un seul est celui que tout le monde cite. Le débit habituel, 46.2 Mbit/s, dit à quoi ressemble un bon moment.

Le dixième centile, 3.9 Mbit/s, c'est celui qu'il faut lire. C'est le débit du dixième le plus mauvais de la journée, quand l'antenne au-dessus de la gare est saturée et que tout le monde autour de vous est dessus. Un pays à médiane haute et à plancher bas, c'est un pays qui marche à merveille jusqu'au moment où vous en avez vraiment besoin.

Si le voyage dépend des appels vidéo ou du partage de connexion, organise toi en fonction du chiffre en heure chargée plutôt que du débit habituel.

Ce qui se passe en Martinique quand le réseau est saturé

La congestion n'est pas une panne, c'est un mardi soir. La question est ce que votre eSIM peut y faire, et pour la plupart des eSIM de voyage la réponse est rien : un accord de gros par pays, un réseau, et aucune issue sauf acheter une deuxième eSIM chez quelqu'un d'autre, debout dans la rue.

Ici le trafic Orbislo passe par Orange Caraïbe, SFR Caraïbe, Free Caraïbe et Digicel. Quand le réseau où vous êtes se dégrade, nous vous basculons sur un autre, en plein voyage, sans que vous demandiez, et nous vous le disons après plutôt que de vous interrompre sur le moment.

Les opérateurs mobiles en Martinique

• Orange: Orange switched on 5G in Martinique on 18 February 2025 in Fort-de-France, Le Lamentin, Schoelcher and Trinité, using the 3.5 GHz band, and said it was then the only operator in the Antilles offering voice over 4G.
• Orange: Orange holds 3520 to 3620 MHz in Martinique, 100 MHz in total, for which it paid 16,000 euros for five extra 10 MHz blocks on top of its commitment-based 50 MHz.
• Outremer Telecom (SFR Caraïbe): Outremer Telecom was authorised in February 2025 to use 3620 to 3720 MHz in Martinique and Guadeloupe, alongside new 700 MHz and 900 MHz frequencies.
• Digicel AFG: Digicel AFG was authorised in February 2025 to use 80 MHz at 3720 to 3800 MHz in Martinique and Guadeloupe along with new frequencies in the 700 MHz and 900 MHz bands.
• Free Caraïbe: Free Caraïbe was authorised in February 2025 to use 3420 to 3520 MHz in Martinique and Guadeloupe. It also holds new frequencies in the 700 MHz and 900 MHz bands there.

Les anciens réseaux en Martinique

• Digicel switched off its 2G network in Martinique on 2 June 2025. Outremer Telecom (SFR) scheduled its 2G shutdown for 24 September 2026, and Orange for 26 September 2026 after a first phase in Le Lamentin on 19 May 2026.
• Outremer Telecom plans to shut 3G in Martinique at the end of 2027 and Orange in 2028, while Digicel has not announced a date and Free Caraïbe has never run a 2G network. A phone that only supports 2G loses service entirely once the last 2G network closes.

La 5G en Martinique

• Arcep authorised Digicel AFG, Free Caraïbe, Orange and Outremer Telecom to use the 700 MHz and 3.4 to 3.8 GHz bands in Martinique from 18 February 2025, and 900 MHz from 1 May 2025.
• Each of the four winners took a 50 MHz block at 3.5 GHz in exchange for commitments, and the remaining 180 MHz went to auction on 1 October 2024, with block positions settled by a second auction on 22 October 2024.
• In 2022 Arcep held back the 700 MHz and 3.5 GHz awards for Martinique and Guadeloupe while frequency coordination agreements with neighbouring countries were still being negotiated.
• Under the award rules, every 3.5 GHz licensee must use the band on at least half of its network sites and on no fewer than 25 sites per territory within five years, and make its network IPv6 compatible.
• Commercial 5G opened in Martinique in the first half of 2025, and at the end of 2024 only 7 percent of SIM cards across the overseas departments had used a 5G network, against 30 percent in mainland France.

Le réseau en Martinique : à savoir

• Orange's licence requires voice and data inside vehicles on about 306 km of motorway-type roads and main links in Martinique by 1 May 2028, with at least 95 percent of connection attempts succeeding.
• Orange's licence also requires voice and SMS over Wi-Fi within 36 months, offered free on all its plans to customers with a compatible phone, which helps where indoor signal is weak.
• Martinique counted 474,000 SIM cards at the end of 2024: 400,000 postpaid plans and 74,000 prepaid cards, with prepaid down 22.9 percent in a year. Mobile penetration stood at 135 percent.
• Mobile data use in Martinique reached 70,543 terabytes in 2024, an average of 12.6 GB a month per SIM card, and 338,000 cards were active on 4G.
• Orange's Kanawa submarine cable runs 1,746 km from Kourou in French Guiana to Martinique, where it connects to the ECFS cable linking the Caribbean to the United States. It was designed for 10 terabits per second and a 25 year life.