Gasoline, gas, food… Everything is increasing. And telecom is no exception. The major French operators are revising their prices upwards. For the past few days, Bouygues Telecom has been splitting a message to some of its Bbox fixed internet subscribers. The news made people shudder: Martin Bouygues’ operator warned them about a price increase. This equates to 4 euros per month. In return, Bouygues Telecom offers unlimited calls to mobile phones in Europe, as well as access to the TF1 Max replay service and the Majelan podcast platform. The same applies to mobile subscribers of B&You. Some have been warned that their subscription will increase by 3 euros per month in exchange for more data. These price increases are automatic. Unless the subscriber indicates within four months of the notification that he wishes to keep his current offer.
Bouygues Telecom is not the only operator pushing up the bills. SFR is also a fan of “paying more for more services”. At the beginning of this year, the operator on the red square decided to increase the subscription price for its Red customers by 3 euros, against more storage space in the cloud. Orange, for its part, presented its new box at the beginning of the month, the Livebox 6, with improved Wi-Fi† It is marketed with subscriptions that are significantly more expensive, namely 5 euros, compared to previous offers.
A fundamental trend
These increases are part of an underlying trend. Prices have been rising for a little over a year now. In 2021, the average bill for fixed internet subscribers rose by 30 cents to 33.5 euros per month, according to Arcep, the telecom regulator. The same for those of mobile customers, which increased by 50 cents to 14.9 euros. These price increases regularly anger subscribers, in a context where a good internet connection has become essential. They come at a time when purchasing power is under severe pressure. But don’t forget that France still benefits from telecom prices that are among the lowest in Europe.
This situation cannot continue with Orange, SFR or Bouygues Telecom. “This is not reasonable and does not fit with the investments, the innovation and the path we have to take in the coming years”† said Arthur Dreyfuss, the president of the French Telecom Federation (FFT) and general secretary of Altice France (SFR), last December. Like its competitors, it believes that the industry cannot sustain such low prices while investing massively in the networks at the same time. In 2020 Orange, SFR, Bouygues Telecom and Free spent around 11.5 billion euros on fiber optics, 4G and the new 5G. A record, knowing that their investments in 2015 were “only” 8 billion euros.
Make money with “the explosion of digital applications”
However, for the operators, the context is now favorable for price increases. The health crisis has a lot to do with it. The Covid-19 and incarcerations have led to the rise of telecommuting and a myriad of digital applications ranging from video to online shopping, via streaming. These practices are particularly bandwidth intensive and require more powerful connections. For many French, they justify giving up the old ADSL to switch to fiber optic. “61% of French people have announced that they have discovered new applications in the last two years”, said Fabienne Dulac, the boss of Orange France, during the presentation of the new Livebox 6 in Paris. According to her this is “explosion of use” register ” on time “†
According to the manager, it is accompanied by a “performance requirement” increased… which Orange, like its competitors, intends to convert into cold hard cash. Fabienne Dulac cites an OpinionWay study commissioned by the incumbent operator and confirms that 39% of French say they “willing to pay more” for a faster, more reliable and more secure connection. So do we see prices bursting through the ceiling in the coming months? Many observers hardly believe it, as the competition with four operators is still a solid stronghold.
