While operators wage a merciless war, we take advantage of mobile packages with always more data. But is it really reasonable? ADEME is considering setting up progressive pricing for a bill.
The battle is raging between operators! Since the start of the 2024 school year, young and older are a real price war with generous packages offered at rates never seen. We are even witnessing spectacular drops and, in the end, we always have more for cheaper. It’s very simple, we can afford an unlimited package with 200 and even 300 GB of data for less than 15 euros per month at Réglo Mobile, You Price, NRJ Mobile, Cdiscount Mobile or Auchan Telecom, among others. Among large operators, the data so are soaring. At Bouygues Telecom, it is possible to take advantage of 300 GB for € 18.99 per month without commitment with B & YOU package, while Free and Red by SFR offer 5G mobile plans of 350 GB (!) Per month in mainland France for 19 , € 99 per month.
But isn’t it too much? In reality, this overbidding of the gigabytes is above all a marketing argument. Whether 300 or 350 GB, all these data are useless for the majority of users, who will not use it as much. ARCEP has calculated that French consume an average of 14 GB of data per month. In short, paying more for more GOs is throwing money out the windows. However, operators continue to feed this Data escalation, since they are forced to line up on each other. But that could soon change …
Gradual pricing of mobile plans: towards a bill?
The model of France in terms of mobile plans is UFO. In many countries, the pricing of mobile data is based on invoicing for use, and 100 GB packages are almost non -existent. In Western Europe in 2023, the average price of a mobile Internet Go was $ 2.08while he was just $ 0.20 in France – and he has dropped since. Globally, France ranks ninth place in countries where Go is the cheapest.
On paper, we can only rejoice for our purchasing power – ends of the month are sufficiently difficult like this. But there is still a price hidden from this generosity, and it is environmental. After The latest study by ARCEP and ADEMEdigital represented 4.4 % of the national carbon footprint in 2022, 46 % of which came from data consumption. However, it is absolutely essential to reduce this impact. And the solution could come from the implementation of progressive pricing.
Indeed, the use of 4G and 5G generates an environmental impact ten times greater than that of Wi-Fi. Establishing invoicing adapted to consumption could encourage users to favor Wi-Fi, thus reducing both their carbon footprint and their bill. According to Le number 130 today in FranceADEME plans to examine this track for a bill. “If the packages become more granular, consumers will adjust their use”estimates Renaud Kayanakis, telecom expert at Sia Partners. “But no operator will take the initiative, because it would amount to showing its customers how to pay less.”