Bouygues Telecom takes on Free Mobile, on Facebook

French mobile and broadband operator Bouygues Telecom chose Facebook as its forum to reply to an aggressive launch by Free Mobile boss Xavier Niel on 10 January. In a long post on its Facebook page, Bouygues writes that contrary to Niel's assertions, consumers have not been duped by mobile operators. There is nothing 'free' about having to pay EUR 20 a month for a 16 GB iPhone 4S, EUR 720 in total, compared to EUR 600 with no contract at Bouygues. Bouygues adds that Free Mobile's roaming prices, presented as much cheaper than other operators', are so only for a few countries. The operator criticizes Free for not giving an indication of the speeds of its mobile data services. Finally, Bouygues insists that Free Mobile can not be making a profit at its prices and must therefore be subsidised by successful sales of the Freebox home gateway of sister company and ISP Free.