Cutting the cord between Orange and Free Mobile is obviously less obvious than expected. While the agreement between the two mobile telephone operators is supposed to end at the end of the year, after having existed for more than ten years, Free would, on the contrary, like to have the right to extend it a little longer, after 2022.
This is what the newspaper Les Échos reveals in its edition of July 28, 2022, reporting on the efforts of the fourth operator to benefit from a new extension of this partnership. In short, Orange carries the signal of Free Mobile; the aim was to help the company, which arrived late on the mobile market, to have an immediately operational, and therefore competitive, service.
A necessary agreement, but less and less effective
This market was set up in 2011, ahead of the commercial launch of Free Mobile offers, in order to give the two partners time to prepare. This roaming must stop at some point, when the Free Mobile network, which is being deployed, will be robust and extensive enough to be autonomous. The more this grows, the more Orange’s aid decreases.
According to the latest news, this deal between the two operators is due to end on December 31, 2022, after a two-year extension – initially the agreement was only supposed to last six years, but it has been extended twice to take into account the actual state of deployment of Free Mobile compared to forecasts — all under the aegis of the telecoms regulator.
If this partnership tends to annoy the rivals of Orange and Free Mobile, it is nevertheless increasingly restrictive. On the one hand, it only concerns 2G and 3G connections – 4G being excluded. On the other hand, Free Mobile must pay Orange for its service, which amounts to several billion euros each year. A declining amount, as Free can rely on its own network.
In addition, the data circulating on the Orange network has been gradually capped, with ever more restrictive limits. Since 2020, the maximum upload and download speeds have been set at 384 kbits (this is the theoretical maximum speed in 2G / Edge). This should also encourage Free to route its customers’ communications itself, to offer them good speed.
It remains to be seen how this idea of extending roaming will be received by the competition (we can guess that SFR and Bouygues Telecom will have an unfavorable point of view on this extension, even if the two groups also have an association in course), and then the telecoms regulator. On the Orange side, this prospect is judged favorably.
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