cnetfrance.fr

For many cell phone users in North America, wrangling companies’ hefty monthly rates and paying for add-ons like voicemail and caller ID has become a necessary evil. Until very recently, the same used to be true for cell phone users in France. A new cell phone operator, which hit French markets on Jan. 10, has transformed the way French consumers think about and pay for their phones and plans. 

The carrier, which operates under the only slightly exaggerated moniker “Free Mobile,” offers cell phones and data plans to French consumers at a fraction of the cost of the country’s other carriers. It was unveiled with much media hype at the beginning of January, during France’s semi-annual national sales. Much of this anticipation was due to the success of the carrier’s parent company, an Internet service provider known as Free, which overhauled France’s home Internet market. 

The company’s founder and majority shareholder, Xavier Niel, who also owns the French daily newspaper Le Monde, has been engaged in the Internet market since 1999, when his service provider dramatically lowered the cost of French broadband packages in 2002 by forcing competitors to match its low rates.

Like most North American phone carriers, France’s major providers, operate on a contract model, where the up-front cost of phones are heavily subsidized at the expense of long-term—and often pricey—service commitments. For example, a $549 iPhone 4S costs only $99 in the United States with a mandatory two year contract.

 Free Mobile, on the other hand, offers contract-free plans starting at 2 Euros a month for 60 minutes and 60 text messages (within France), compared to the industry standard 10 Euros, Niel told the French channel itélé. The provider also offers unlimited international calls, text messages, and 3G access for only 19.99 Euros per month.

Free Mobile’s competitors are trying hard to take advantage of the new provider’s lack of  subsidized phones, but to little avail. According to some estimates on French technology blogs, one million consumers have already switched over to Free from their current providers. Free itself noted on its Facebook page that within hours of announcing its rates, its websites had racked up 4.6 million hits. This may be in part due to the flexibility the provider offers French consumers, who can typically keep their current phones and numbers in switching over to Free, as well as the provider’s low rates.

Free Mobile’s success should come as no surprise to folks from major Canadian cities like Toronto and Vancouver. The innovative French carrier bears considerable resemblance to new entrants to the Canadian wireless market like WIND Mobile and Mobilicity, which have transformed the wireless landscape and forced the big three—Rogers, Bell, and Telus—to treat consumers more fairly.  Quebecers are still waiting to benefit from new Canadian providers as new competitors were outbid by Vidéotron and the other major carriers in the last auction for wireless spectrum in the province. Industry minister Christian Paradis is expected to release the details of the next major spectrum auction this week, which may pave the way for lower prices as new carriers can begin operating in Quebec.