Posted Jan 17, 2022, 5:28 PMUpdated on Jan 17, 2022 at 5:33 PM
It’s the end of a cursed decade for French telecoms. Not for the French consumer, who benefits from one of the best value for money in the world. But for the operators, who finally see the sector’s revenues starting to rise again after ten years of decline. According to figures for the third quarter of 2021, published by Arcep, the sector regulator, operators have collected nearly 27 billion euros over the last nine months. An increase of 2.4% unprecedented since the arrival of Free Mobile in early 2012.
Before this pivotal date, the market fought over by Orange, SFR and Bouygues Telecom experienced robust growth (5% per year on average between 2000 and 2010). But the prospect of seeing Xavier Niel land with discounted packages had pushed the historic trio to launch low-cost brands in 2011 (B & You, Sosh, RED), inaugurating the sector’s descent into hell.