Here's why the prices of your mobile and fixed plans could increase in France

Following a study commissioned by him, the French Telecoms Federation seems very inclined to increase the prices of mobile and fixed plans to better amortize the investments of operators Orange, Bouygues Telecom, SFR and Free.

Source: Gilly on Unsplash

The various French telecom operators would be tempted to increase the price of their mobile plans and their fixed plans. This is in fact what Le Monde points out, emphasizing the fact that incomes have stagnated for several years in the sector. It must be said that investments are expensive – especially with regard to the deployment of 5G – and that the prices charged in France by Orange, Bouygues Telecom, SFR and Free remain very low compared to the rest of Europe.

Le Monde quotes a study (PDF) by the FFT, the French Telecoms Federation, stating that operators have invested more than 11.5 billion euros in the development of their fixed and mobile networks in 2020. This sum n t has stopped growing over the years and, since 2011, 88 billion euros have been spent in this context – this total rises to 97.3 billion if we take into account the acquisition of frequencies. All this makes a lot of money.

Low prices practiced in France

And yet, thanks to the fierce competition between Orange, Bouygues Telecom, SFR and Free since the latter's arrival on the market, French consumers have been able to pay relatively low prices compared to the rest of Europe for their telecom subscriptions.

In its study, the FFT explains for example that in October 2021, a person in France could subscribe to a triple play offer (fixed internet, TV box and fixed telephone) for 22 euros with the access provider deemed the most competitive. In comparison, this rate rose to 45 euros for Germany.

The price of fixed and mobile subscriptions in France is relatively low compared to other countries // Source: FFT

Same trend for mobile offers. A 50 GB/month package was available over this period at 13 euros, compared to at least 47 euros in Germany. Here, only Italy benefited from a cheaper offer according to the FFT.

There is no doubt that French operators would like to make more margins by passing on more of the costs of their investments to the prices offered to private customers. Moreover, according to INSEE, the prices of fixed plans have already increased by 6.2% in July 2021 compared to the previous year.

Telecom subscriptions and… pizza?

And price increases could become more regular over time. At least, that's what Arthur Dreyfuss, both president of the FFT and general secretary of SFR, suggests. "The French must pay the right price for an exceptional service offered to them", he explains to the newspaper Le Monde. He even tries an incongruous comparison to support his point: "Is it normal that a monthly telecom subscription costs the same price as a pizza, while, at the same time, prices are increasing throughout the value ? »

Another argument put forward: the essential nature of the telecoms market which represents “the backbone of the digital economy” according to Arthur Dreyfuss. In other words, no SVoD service, music streaming platform, cloud gaming or telecommuting possible without telecom operators.

A gradual price increase

As you will have understood, the FFT seems very inclined to raise the prices to a level that it considers fairer. It must be said that the federation, created in 2007, brings together several different operators seeking to defend their economic interests. Note however that Free, although a founding member of the organization, no longer appears in the governance of the FFT.

Thus, if Orange, Bouygues Telecom and SFR do indeed begin to increase the prices of their fixed and mobile plans, they will not be able to do it too abruptly, because it can be assumed that Free would oppose aggressive competition. However, in the longer term, Xavier Niel's firm could also increase its prices, while remaining more accessible than other players. This would allow it to remain competitive, but still increase its margins.

Finally, it should also be noted that the FFT points the finger at taxation that it considers too high in its sector of activity, while American giants such as Google, Apple, Facebook or Microsoft are only slightly taxed in France - often due to tax optimization systems that they put in place.

The FFT does not hide its ambition to take advantage of the French presidency of the European Union (from January 1, 2022) to discuss these subjects.

The best non-binding packages

4 days

Unlimited calls

Unlimited SMS/MMS

40 GB

Too Much Baggage? How to Ship Your Luggage https://t.co/BRWT48nAKj #travel #ttot https://t.co/TW2LATQmcv

— Kay Dougherty Fri Jun 03 12:10:22 +0000 2016

5 days

Unlimited calls

Unlimited SMS/MMS

70 GB

6 days

Unlimited calls

Unlimited SMS/MMS

80 GB - 130 GB

12,99€

The best internet boxes

5 days

Throughput up to 1 Gb/s

Without TV Player

Telephony to 100 destinations

35€

1 month

Throughput up to 1 Gb/s

180 TV channels included

Telephony to 110 destinations

39.99€

Speed ​​up to 500 Mb/s

160 TV channels included

Telephony to 100 destinations

38€

To follow us, we invite you to download our Android and iOS application. You can read our articles, files, and watch our latest YouTube videos.