Telephone subscriptions are also victims of inflation! Orange, SFR and Bouygues plan to further increase their prices from January 2023. An increase intended to compensate for the increase in energy costs, and which only Free refuses.
Times are tough for the French right now! Heating, electricity, transport, communication… Everything increases. And this is also the case for fixed and mobile packages, the prices of which continue to soar! While users have had the unpleasant surprise for some time of seeing the prices of their subscriptions increase – whether without being warned or via sneaky techniques (see our article) – the Government is adding a layer of it by trying to impose a tax on all Internet and mobile plans. But that’s without counting on the war in Ukraine and the resulting energy price hikes! Thus, Orange is currently sending emails to its subscribers to announce an upcoming increase in the prices of their fixed and mobile subscriptions, as reported Alloforfait and confirm it BFM. And it’s no surprise that Bouygues Telecom and SFR announced at the Parisian do the same, and this from the beginning of 2023. Only Free is committed to maintaining its prices… for the moment.
Increase in packages: only Free will not increase its prices
Bouygues Telecom and SFR have decided to follow in Orange’s footsteps and increase the prices of its subscriptions. The first plans to add €1 to €3 to its mobile and fixed offers, depending on the package. The most significant increases concern the Bbox Fit subscription, which will increase by €2 per month, and the B&You offer, which will increase by €3 per month. Ditto for SFR, even if the increase will be much less significant: between €0.69 and €0.99 per month depending on the packages. The operator is justified by “the general increase in the costs that make up the price of your service (electronic components, raw materials, logistics)”. These new rates will be effective from the end of January 2023.
Only Free remains true to himself, which could also motivate some customers to come to him. A spokesperson for the group told Le Parisien that“we have made a commitment not to touch the price of these packages for the next five years and we are the only operator not to increase the price of our packages”. It remains to be seen whether he will keep his promise or whether the macroeconomic context will get the better of his good will.
Orange packages: subscribers pay for soaring energy
For its part, Orange justifies its decision to increase its prices by the fact that it faces “to a significant increase in [ses] operating costs, particularly of the energy that powers [ses] mobile networks and the Internet”. The operator has therefore decided to pass on the rise in energy prices to its subscribers. Don’t panic though since, in his immense kindness, he made sure that they only had to pay 1 to 2 € per month. The €1 increases concern Orange mobile offers (mobile plan and mobile plan for Open customers), Orange Internet fibre, Sosh mobile and Sosh Internet. The €2 increases concern Open and Orange internet xDSL customers. They will be effective in March 2023 for 3 million customers, and in April 2023 for 12.5 million others. But the problem, even if these are only “small” increases, they are starting to weigh heavily in the portfolio of users by dint of accumulating….
Remember that subscribers have the right to ask to change their offer – to take another less expensive one – or to cancel their current subscription free of charge and without taking into account the commitment period within four months of receiving the email. of Orange, in accordance with article L224-33 of the Consumer Code. All customers will be informed at least one month before the application of the new prices. So stay vigilant during this period to avoid any unpleasant surprises after the holidays…