Group-buying scheme to cut phone bills

An association wants to help people save money on their telephone-internet-TV bill - by joining forces and negotiating with companies en masse.

The Familles de France association has offered to negotiate a cheaper package on behalf of people who sign up to the scheme by completing an online registration form. Those who do join must commit to keeping the final package for a month.

A similar group-buying scheme to cut the cost of electricity bills saved the 66,000 households who joined up an average of €200 a year. A gas scheme was also very successful.

But this latest negotiation may prove difficult, experts have warned, because telecoms prices in France are already low.