Mobile data offer in France includes UK and US also

A new mobile offer from telecoms company Free has launched in France, providing unlimited data in 135 countries including the UK, US, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

It costs €29.99 a month, or €19.99 for subscribers to the company’s ‘triple-play’ TV/phone/internet service Freebox.

Free was launched in 2012 and disrupted the established triopoly of Orange, SFR and Bouygues in France’s mobile phone and internet services market.

Since then, there have been almost continuous price wars between operators, resulting in France having significantly lower mobile phone tariffs than many other countries.

However, favourable conditions may be coming to an end following the planned sale of SFR by parent company Altice. 

In mid-April, a deal was announced which would see the three other mobile phone providers jointly buy SFR for just over €20 billion. 

Both EU and French regulators will have to agree to it first, which could take between six months and two years.

Before launching the new offer, Free’s mobile package consisted of its well-known €2 per month plan for two hours of calls and unlimited messaging, with limited mobile data, and a 5G+ mobile offer priced at €19.99 per month.

Its competitors all offer generous data packages, typically around 200GB per month in France, compared with average mobile data usage of about 20GB, according to figures from telecoms regulator Arcep.

At its launch press conference, Free said its research showed that mobile data usage was continually increasing, especially for those under the age of 25, many of whom do not have fixed lines or home internet connections.

Free’s competitors typically restrict data offers outside the European Union.

Even within the EU, some customers have complained of high bills for data used outside France due to a loophole allowing operators to charge more if data use abroad exceeds a four-month average within France.

International mobile operators

There are also a number of mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) such as Holafly, Ubigi, Simbye, Airalo and Nomad, which specialise in international services using eSIM cards available on many newer mobile phones.

According to a survey by the market research company YouGov, published in February, 81% of French travellers said they switched off mobile data on their phones when travelling outside France in 2025, and a third reported having previously received large bills when they had not done so.

It has been suggested that the move by Free may be copied by other operators, which could see competition shift from attracting the maximum number of customers through low-cost offers to competing in the so-called ‘premium’ market.

Free had around 15.7 million mobile customers at the end of 2025, and added roughly 200,000 over the year, according to company and industry estimates, compared with higher gains reported by rivals including Orange and Bouygues.

In its quarterly report on mobile telecoms in France, the regulator Arcep said that mobile phone operators had revenues of €9.6billion in the last quarter of 2025, and that there were 32.9 million active SIM cards in mobile phones in the country.

It stated that average data usage on mobile networks for the quarter was 18.3GB, representing an increase of between 1GB and 2GB compared with usage two years earlier.

The report also showed that the number of SMS messages continues to decline, with most people switching to instant messaging services.

The number of voice calls from mobile phones is increasing and calls from fixed lines are decreasing.