Free Mobile has threatened to take legal action against any future critics of the veracity of its network coverage and size of its investments. In a statement aimed at setting the record straight after numerous comments from rivals questioning its coverage, Free Mobile said the French market had become competitive since its launch in January, French consumers were glad of it, and everyone "should accept it". Free Mobile noted that telecom regulator Arcep found the the operator was meeting its obligation to cover 27 percent of the population, after twice checking its network. It added that the three incumbent mobile operators only met their 3G coverage requirements after several warnings.
Free Mobile also adressed criticisms that little traffic was going over its own network, and it's relying almost entirely on a roaming agreement with Orange. The main reasons so much of its customers' traffic goes over Orange's network are: at this early stage, its infrastructure offers discontinuous coverage; there are problems putting up equipment in densely populated areas, resulting in less coverage of high-traffic areas; and its coverage obligation is only outdoor and most indoor traffic is going over Orange's network for now. Deep indoor coverage will be possible when Free Mobile starts using its 900MHz spectrum in January 2013. Also, many of Free Mobile's customers have 2G phones, meaning they cannot access its 3G network. The company noted other operators face a similar issue, with most voice traffic still going over 2G networks.
Free Mobile said it has invested around EUR 400 million in its network roll-out, plus EUR 518 million on licences. The cumulative investment in the network is expected to reach approximately EUR 1 billion by 2018. Iliad group also increased its workforce by 1,500 in the last year, and Free claims its launch in January helped hasten all mobile operators' LTE deployment. Free added that France Telecom-Orange was chosen as its roaming partner not on price, but on network quality, as all three MNOs bid to host Free Mobile.
