The prices of phone plans are among the few that have not been affected by inflation. Between 2023 and 2024, they fell by -5%, according to the annual study by the French Telecoms Federation (FFT), published this Wednesday. Concretely, a fixed plan (internet/telephone) reached on average 33 euros in 2023, while that of a mobile plan rose to 14 euros. A situation that makes French prices “the most competitive in Europe”according to the organization which brings together electronic communications operators in France.
The study also shows that this drop in prices is accompanied by an increase in data consumption. Thus, in 2023, the French consumed on average 17 gigabytes (GB) per month, compared to 14.3 GB the previous year. The price of a gigabyte consumed has therefore automatically fallen by 68% in France between 2019 and 2023.
And the trend is in the same vein even today. This is evidenced by the offers released on the occasion of Black Friday at the end of November, where mobile plans displayed an ever lower price and an ever higher quantity of data. The average price of a mobile plan, including 10 GB, stood at 10.68 euros, down -38% over one year, according to the monthly barometer published at the beginning of December by the online price comparator Ariase. And the prices of fixed and internet subscriptions have also fallen by almost -13% over one year, to 28.51 euros per month.
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Price war
The four French operators – Orange, Bouygues Telecom, SFR and Free, accompanied for the first three by their low-cost brands Sosh, B&You and Red by SFR – regularly align on prices which they lower in turn. And particularly in recent months.
“Clearly, we are in a rather intense phase (of price wars), particularly since the summer”observes Sylvain Chevallier, telecoms specialist and partner at the consulting firm Bearing Point.
A situation linked to increased competition in the market since the arrival of Free in 2012, which literally slashed prices. But this recent rapid drop in prices is mainly due to a market which is experiencing a definite slowdown. This has been happening since the fourth quarter of 2022, according to the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications and Posts (Arcep). According to its latest quarterly report published at the beginning of October, the number of mobile subscriptions increased from 75.5 million to 76.5 million in one year. As for fixed subscriptions, their number increased by 1%. An increase « ridicule » compared to previous years, according to Sylvain Chevallier.
Stealing other people’s customers
In this context of “a market that is no longer growing, the only way for operators to grow is to seek subscribers from the competition”continues the analyst. And therefore to lower prices.
A dynamic further facilitated by the sector since telecoms are a “fixed cost savings”as Romain Bonenfant, general director of the FFT, explained to AFP. “Once you have installed a network, having more or fewer customers does not bring many additional costs”.
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As for customers, they are at the same time more and more free to move from one operator to another. “The proportion of packages free of commitment (…) continues to increase”to reach 79% in the second quarter of 2024, according to Arcep. That’s three more points in one year.
The fact remains that, according to Sylvain Chevallier, the price level could “difficult to lower” even more. “On the other hand, it can last a long time”.
Diversify to rule better
In any case, this downward race does not have the same implications for operators. Orange, Bouygues Telecom and Free recorded an increase in their mobile subscribers in the third quarter. On the other hand, SFR saw their number decline again.
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This price war would also have consequences on their investments in telecom networks. They thus spent less in 2023 – 13.8 billion euros of investments – compared to 2021 (14.9 billion), according to the annual study by the FFT. So much so that Laurent Halimi, the president of the federation, pointed out a “unsustainable economic situation”, “in a context of accelerating digital transition and strong tax and regulatory pressure”.
Faced with this uncertain market share, operators are looking for breathing space and have embarked on the diversification of their activities. They are therefore focusing in particular on new technologies. For example, Orange announced at the beginning of December the launch of a new artificial intelligence offering for businesses.
(With AFP)
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