The launch of Free Mobile offer mid-January has shaken the French mobile phone industry to the core. Free Mobile, the mobile division of Iliad, was awarded France’s fourth 3G license in 2009. On the 10th of January, Free Mobile CEO’s Xavier Niel has unveiled his low price strategy. By offering unlimited calls to mobiles in France, USA and Canada, unlimited standard calls in France and in 40 other countries, unlimited SMS in France and 3GB of data for only A$25 per month, the operator has revolutionized the mobile industry in France.

Three weeks later, the French MVNOs are already heavily impacted. The French monitoring site Toosurtoo claims that 26 per cent of Free Mobile customers have come from existing MVNOs, with Virgin Mobile being the worst hit by defections. The major mobile operators have also felt the Free Mobiles impact, with Toosurtoo stating that 16 per cent of Frees new customers came from Bouygues Telecom, 22 per cent from SFR and 30 per cent have moved from Orange.

With this offer, Free Mobile highlights that its competitors have mislead their customers (67 million mobile subscribers) with high prices. Thanks to Free Mobile, French consumers will enjoy a more competitive market and lower prices.