Free Mobile has 5 mln subs, covers 50% of population - CEO

News Wireless France 17 JAN 2013
Free Mobile has 5 mln subs, covers 50% of population - CEO

French operator Free Mobile has about 5 million subscribers in mid-January, compared to 4.4 million at the end of September, group chairman Xavier Niel confirmed to Le Figaro following press reports quoting this figure. Niel said that just under a quarter of Free Mobile customers pay nothing, as they are quad play subscribers who opted for the 2 hour plan, now with unlimited SMS. 

He said that even on a EUR 0 mobile plan, such customers are profitable on revenues from ADSL, overages, international calls, incoming calls and handset sales. He would not confirm nor deny that 90 percent of its mobile traffic goes over Orange’s network, but said that Free’s footprint is growing quickly since switching on the 900MHz spectrum in densely populated areas returned to it by incumbent MNOs. 

Niel claimed that Free Mobile nows cover half of the population, up from the 37 percent observed by regulator Arcep in July. Finally, he does not think it possible for any market consolidation between MNOs to take place in France as Bouygues Telecom is not for sale.

Categories:

Mobile,  Internet

Companies:

Bouygues Telecom,  Orange Business France,  Free Mobile

Countries:

France

Tags:

Production planning & operations, Voice services, Data services, Messaging, Sales figures, Network equipment, Wireless, Consumer

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