To celebrate its tenth anniversary, Free Mobile is offering itself a provocative communication campaign, while further improving its famous unlimited plan. But we are still waiting for an enrichment of the formula to 2 euros …
This January 10, 2022, Free Mobile celebrates its tenth anniversary. It was in fact on January 10, 2012 that, with the success of its Internet access offers and its Freeboxes, the telecoms troublemaker entered the French mobile telephony market with the firm intention of changing the rules of game. And it is clear that the company founded by Xavier Niel has carved out a good place in the sun against the three major competing operators already well established (Bouygues Telecom, Orange and SFR) with an aggressive pricing offer that still continues and which has largely contributed to lowering prices in France, as it likes to point out in its communication campaign. An official campaign, accompanied by an offbeat and humorous video in which Xavier Niel makes a very provocative statement like a President of the Republic, openly mocking the presidential candidates …
The even more generous Unlimited Free Mobile plan
In this squeaky parody that will not appeal to everyone, the founder of Free emphasizes what made the success of his offer, hammering the slogan “Freedom, equality, prices unchanged”. But the operator is fortunately not satisfied with this acid pastiche to celebrate the event with dignity. In addition to some temporary promotions and a competition without major interest, Free Mobile is especially evolving its flagship formula, the famous unlimited phone plan. Without changing the price – it remains offered at 15.99 euros / month for Freebox subscribers and at 19.99 euros / month for others, it offers unlimited 4G / 5G data to Freebox subscribers and up to 210 GB for the others. A nice gift which makes it one of the best formulas of the moment in terms of quantity / price ratio, the territorial coverage in 4G and 5G still being the subject of bitter debate among specialists, even though the number of antennas of the Free network has grown significantly in recent years.
No change for the Free package at 2 euros
However, if we can be delighted to see that the prices of mobile phone plans have fallen significantly since the arrival of Free Mobile, as the operator reminds us, we can also regret that the operator has not taken advantage of his birthday to develop his entry-level offer, as he had suggested a few months ago. In fact, the famous mobile plan at 2 euros, the very economical formula which made the heyday of the operator when it arrived on the market, today suffers from the comparison with the competition, as well among MVNOs (the virtual operators such as NRJ Mobile or Prixtel) than with traditional operators, Bouygues Telecom and SFR in the lead.
Admittedly, when we simply look at the prices, Free’s 2 euro package remains without real equivalent: it only offers 2 hours of calls, but SMS and MMS are unlimited, which is not the case for other packages at very low prices. On the other hand, the volume of data remains limited to 50 MB (after having been temporarily increased to 100 MB during the first confinement of 2020), which turns out to be notably insufficient given current uses, even for very moderate use (consultation mailbox, instant messaging). As a result, Free has lost a lot of ground in this segment in recent years, losing some 223,000 subscribers to its 2 euro package in 2020 and already 221,000 subscribers in the first half of 2021. Faced with this massive leak, Xavier Niel has promised to ” enrich the formula, but without specifying the exact content or the deadline. The specialists are counting on an unchanged price, to keep the attractive aspect of this emblematic offer, with an increasing volume of data. But we will have to wait a little longer to see this emblematic offer evolve …
VoLTE finally available at Free Mobile
On the other hand, as it had promised in the fall of 2021, Free Mobile has deployed VoLTE well. We could even say finally deployed, as this technology was long overdue when it has been offered for years by other major operators, Bouygues Telecom having even launched it in 2015 … As a reminder, VoLTE (for Voice over LTE ) is a voice communication technology which consists of passing the voice over the mobile Internet, in 4G or 5G, and not in GSM mode. Main interest: a significant improvement in the audio quality of communications, thanks to so-called HD (high definition) sound. But this is not its only asset, draws VoLTE is also shown to be more responsive, with a faster establishment of communication. Above all, VoLTE does not interrupt the data connection. Clearly, you can make phone calls while continuing to surf the Web, consult social networks, stream or download apps, which is not possible in 2G, the classic calling mode. A real plus on a daily basis, especially for those who share Internet connection via their mobile phone.
The VoLTE option was one of the first changes announced by the operator at the end of September during the Free Communities Convention, an event held at the headquarters of Iliad, the parent company, in Paris, and during which the leaders of the company meet user associations to discuss the operator’s situation and projects, both on the network and on support, offers and services.
Free Mobile plans in January 2022
€ 19.99
Free 5G plan
Unlimited calls
Unlimited SMS / MMS
210 GB 5G Internet
Network: Free
Without engagement
Network: Free
Without engagement
€ 10.99
for 12 months then € 19.99 / month
Free 100 GB Series
Unlimited calls
Unlimited SMS / MMS
100 GB 4G + Internet
Network: Free
Without engagement
Network: Free
Without engagement
2.00 €
Package 2 euros
2h
Unlimited SMS / MMS
50 MB 4G + Internet
Network: Free
Without engagement
Network: Free
Without engagement
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