Last updated: 20 May 2020 Update History
Report Status: Archived
Report Pages: 278
Analyst: Henry Lancaster
Publication Overview
This report provides a comprehensive overview of trends and developments in France’s telecommunications market. The report analyses the fixed-line, mobile and broadband sectors. Subjects include:
Researcher:- Henry Lancaster
Current publication date:- October 2019 (18th Edition)
Executive Summary
France has the third largest telecoms market in Europe, worth about €31 billion annually. The incumbent telco Orange Group is one of the world’s major players with interests in markets across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The company is embarked on a multi-year investment program with an emphasis on fibre-based broadband and mobile infrastructure based on 5G. Despite market liberalisation, orange still dominates all sectors though increasing competition from a number of major players (notably Altice, Bouygues Telecom and Iliad) has gradually eroded this lead.
The mobile phone market, worth about €13 billion annually, is dominated by Orange, SFR Group (owned by Altice Group), Bouygues Telecom and Free Mobile. Services based on LTE have near universal coverage, while operators have undertaken extensive 5G trials and are looking to launch commercial services in the second half of 2020. This timing is being supported by the auction of spectrum in a range of bands.
Competition among the MNOs and a large number of MVNOs caused mobile services revenue to fall steadily until 2017, since when growth has been low but steady. Pressure on revenue has encouraged operators to look to convergence and bundled services, and so expand their offerings beyond mobile voice and data.
France also has one of the largest broadband subscriber bases in Europe. Growth in recent years has been bolstered by demand for high bandwidth services, which has prompted considerable investment in fibre infrastructure among telcos and regional governments. DSL still dominates the broadband market in terms of access lines, though the number of DSL lines is falling as customers are migrated to fibre infrastructure. Fibre deployments have grown substantially in recent years, with all of the major ISPs concentrating their investments in the platform with a view to promoting 1Gb/s services. There efforts have been encouraged by the regulator which is keen to see effective competition in fibre access.
This report assesses the key aspects of France’s telecom market, providing updated statistics on the country’s fixed network, an analysis of operator strategies, and a review of the key regulatory issues including the status of number portability, wholesaling and carrier preselection. The report also covers the mobile voice and data segments, including spectrum licensing and regulatory issues and profiles of the major players and MVNOs. In addition, the report analyses the fixed and fixed-wireless broadband markets, focussing on cable, DSL and the fast-developing FttP/C sectors. It reviews the strategies of the principal providers such as Orange, Iliad and Altice (SFR Group), and considers the regulatory status of LLU and access to fibre infrastructure. Subscriber forecasts to 2024 are provided for several market areas.
Orange, Iliad (Free, Free Mobile), Altice (SFR Group, Numéricable), Bouygues Telecom, Virgin Mobile, Omea Telecom
Henry Lancaster
October 2019
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