subscriber bills continue to rise

2024-01-15 16:28:00

Little by little and quietly, Internet subscriptions and mobile plans are becoming more and more expensive. This is what Arcep, the telecoms regulator, underlines in its latest French market observatory, published on January 11. It is on the fixed Internet front that the increase is most marked. Concretely, the average monthly bill for a high and very high speed subscription now amounts to 34.8 euros in France. That’s 1.5 euros more in one year. “This level had not been reached for ten years”insists Arcep, which sees the “direct consequence of price increases occurring on the market”. The prices of mobile plans are also increasing. But the increase is, for the moment, of lesser magnitude. The average monthly bill has increased by 20 cents in one year, to 16.2 euros.

In recent months, the majority of telecom operators have decided to revise their prices upwards. Orange, the sector leader in France, notably increased all its offers by 1 to 2 euros last spring. Bouygues Telecom and SFR have more or less done the same. To further boost their revenues, operators have also reduced – and sometimes eliminated – promotional periods, during which a subscription is offered at a reduced price. Orange, SFR and Bouygues Telecom have all argued that these new pricing policies were intended to compensate for inflation, from which they claim to be suffering. Price increases are, in their eyes, an imperative to cope with large investments in fiber and new 5G.

Free freezes the price of its packages

One actor, however, stands out. This is Free, which has decided not to change its prices. Two days before the publication of the Arcep observatory, the Xavier Niel operator notably recalled its commitment, made in 2022, to “do not touch the price of your two mobile plans until 2027”. Xavier Niel’s operator, who presents himself as a “defender of purchasing power”, still offers two packages: one at 19.99 euros per month, including 5G, and equipped with 250 gigabytes of data, and the other at 2 euros, with 2 hours of calls in France, unlimited SMS, and 50 megabytes of data in 4G. Free, however, has modified the “booster” option of this latest package. Until now, this allowed you to benefit from 5 gigabytes of data and unlimited calls for an additional 2.99 euros per month. Now, it is much less attractive, and only offers 1 gigabyte of additional data at the same price.

In the wake of these price increases, telecom operators are seeing their revenues increase significantly. In the third quarter of 2023, these amounted to 9.4 billion euros, up 2.4% year-on-year. Orange, SFR, Bouygues Telecom and Free are benefiting from the French appetite for optical fiber. “The number of net new fiber subscribers remains high, even if it has slowed slightly for almost two years”, specifies Arcep. In the third quarter, 3.4 million French people converted to this technology. Today, 20.6 million customers use this technology, which represents 64% of total high and very high speed subscriptions.

The French are converting to 5G

5G also continues to appeal to the French. “The number of active users increases by more than a million per quarter since the commercial launch of 5G in 2021 », notes Arcep. In total, France now has 12.4 million users of this new technology. Good news for operators, since these packages are – with the exception of those of Free – sold more expensive than 4G subscriptions. In addition, the number of 5G customers is expected to increase significantly this year, with an evolution of this technology which will offer higher speeds coupled with better responsiveness.