What if SFR changed its name?

SFR, a tarnished brand

The acronym of the Société Française de Radiotéléphone, SFR, is in bad shape. The takeover by Altice via Numericable brought suspicion to the brand at Carré Rouge. But the problems of mobile and fixed networks, the reorganization of customer service and certain tariff increases have damaged the reputation of the brand. The poor results in the confidence indices and the tests of consumer associations (UFC-QueChoisir or 60 Millions de l'INC) and customers (AFUTT) do not help to restore the image either.

Since 2014, the operator has lost around 200,000 subscribers per year in fixed lines, going from 6.58 million at the end of 2013 to 5.95 million at the end of 2016, and nearly a million customers per year in mobile, from 23.23 million at the end of 2013 to 20.07 million at the end of 2016. These decreases are not offset by flash sales and other promotions granted by SFR to attract new customers, particularly at RED.

If the quadruple-play, Multipack and SFR FAM!LY services, and the non-binding RED by SFR offer have made it possible to limit departures from other operators, the addition of additional services under the SFR brand, SFR Presse, SFR Sport, SFR Play and SFR News do not seem to have kept customers. While the transition from the SFR brand was successful in the French overseas departments (Caribbean), the transition from Numericable to SFR in Belgium and Luxembourg did not have the desired effect.

In “ancillary services”, the SFR brand also poses problems: the SFR Sport and SFR Play packages are not taken over by competitors, as Orange has done with OCS, while the MCS and Zive brands are still in catalog. On SFR News, the BFM and RMC brands enjoy better notoriety, while SFR Presse causes confusion between the service offered to SFR subscribers and the division dedicated to press titles (Liberation, Groupe L'Express, L'Etudiant, etc.). ..), advancing with the name of Altice Media for the latter.

A change of brand is necessary? Altice?

According to information from the daily Les Echos, the operator is working to change the soon-to-be thirty-year-old brand: “The decision has not yet been made, but the idea is gaining ground. Patrick Drahi, the owner of the operator, has, in fact, launched an internal reflection to study this hypothesis, the teams of which are exploring the opportunity and the feasibility”. Altice is not close to a brand change: Outremer Telecom, in the Caribbean overseas departments, has changed its own brand Only to that of SFR. Coditel in Belgium has changed from Numericable to SFR. On TV, the MCS Sport channels have become SFR Sports.

One solution would be to take the Altice brand, which is younger and more international. Altice would present itself as a single brand, like Orange or Vodafone. It would then save several brand licenses, particularly in the Dominican Republic (Orange on mobile and Tricom on landline) and in the United States (under the Optimum and Suddenlink brand). Moreover, Patrick Drahi is currently launching the Altice USA IPO process on Wall Street. If this option is chosen, it could lead to the disappearance of some more well-known brands in other countries such as Hot in Israel, Green in Switzerland or MEO and PT in Portugal.

In any case, if the SFR brand change were to be confirmed, it would not be effective before the beginning of 2018.