Free Mobile's low prices will win it 25% market share - CEO

Asked about reports that Free Mobile plans a commercial launch before Christmas French ISP's commercial launch will happen before 15 January 2012, French ISP Free founder Xavier Niel told ITespresso.fr at the LeWeb11 conference in Paris last week. He confirmed that pricing will be aggressive vis-a-vis competitors. The operator aims to halve customer bills with unlimited mobile internet packages for under EUR 50 a month. Niel thinks a very aggressive strategy to tire the opposition will enable Free Mobile to capture a 25 percent market share. Free, which revolutionised the French triple-play market with an under EUR 30 a month service many years ago, has raised expectations about its mobile service. Niel said he was more surprise by competitors' inaction than by the amount of buzz surrounding Free Mobile's launched. With his trademark bravado, he urged them to start cutting their prices, if only by a few percent, to prepare for the aggressive rival they will soon have and "perhaps to have a chance of continued existence". A few sentences later, Niel added that regardless of what price points other operators take, Free Mobile's service will always cost less. Les Echos writes that Free Mobile awaits telecom regulator Arcep's final network coverage check to see if it has broached the 27 percent threshold. The tests are scheduled to begin on 12 January.