Free Mobile.

[pachapapa]

Free Mobile announced today 10/01/2012 the forfaits for their new mobile phone service.

A poll on BFMTV indicates that 88% would consider migrating to Free.

For an infrequent user the social forfait with 60 mins and 60 SMS per month for € 2 looks convenient.

[ericd]

Yep, this offer looks interesting (their website actually down as I type). Does free use the Orange network as only that one gets through in our part of France.

[pachapapa]

http://couverture.3g.free.fr/howto.php

Pour vérifier que FREE Mobile emet dans votre zone, il suffit de lancer un scan réseau sur votre téléphone
(Attention : Ceci ne marchera qu'avec un téléphone compatible 3G, un téléphone 2G ne pourra détecter le réseau FREE MOBILE)

Pour la pluspart des téléphone il suffit de se rendre dans le menu "Réglages" puis "Réseaux" ou "Opérateurs" et de lancer un scan manuel des réseaux.

Si vous voyez apparaître le réseau 208-14 ou 208-15 (ou FRA-14 et FRA-15) parmi BOUYGTEL, Orange F et F SFR, alors vous êtes couverts par FREE MOBILE.

[BJSLIV]

Does free use the Orange network?

From the Financial Times

Free will rely initially on France Telecom for about 70 per cent of its mobile network coverage, but is to invest in its own network

[NormanH]

For those of us who already have a freebox, the 2€ option is FREE...[:D]

[Pierre ZFP]

It does look interesting, a work colleague said the same but it was reported on the news that 'the system is not reliable' ????? how can that be when it is using existing networks?

I also see that the website has instructions to unblock your phone for free if you have owned it for 3 months or more.

I don't use a mobile much in France but it could still be worthwhile for me to get one

[pachapapa]

The media reports that Free Mobile have placed a 3 million subscriber ceiling on the current introductory offers.

Yesterday the access to sign on was impossible in the morning and well nigh impossible after.

[ericd]

Just managed to log on this morning and apply for the SIM....at €12/year I can't go wrong.

[Pierre ZFP]

Ummm isn't that €24 per year???

[ericd]

...........hmmmm....yes....

[Dart16]

Read the contract for the penalty if you go over the 60sms/60 mins a month just so you know what to expect if you do.

[pachapapa]

[quote user="NormanH"]For those of us who already have a freebox, the 2€ option is FREE...[:D]
[/quote]

And if you have Free ADSL the unlimited deal is € 15.99 and not € 19.90.

http://www.prixdunet.com/guide-achat/free-mobile-forfaits-details-54.html

Norman if you have time it would be probably helpful if you could give a cursory revision of the T & C for the forfaits. I note a post earlier on dépassement and avances sur facturation.

Just 40 pages to keep you busy in the common interest.[;-)]

http://mobile.free.fr/docs/tarifs.pdf

[NormanH]

Well I have replaced the two I have at the moment ( one Sfr at around 45€ a month) and a Virgin PAYG which comes to about 5€ on the minimum way of using it with a 15.99 and a 2 so a good potential saving.

It's bound to be a loser if I have chosen it [:(]

wait for them to run out of Sim cards after they have cancelled the present contracts(Free do that for you)  but before they have delivered my two cards..

I remember the wait when I changed to free from wanadoo..

Will have a shifty at the t&c

[Quillan]

I was rather tempted but decided to wait and see what else happens and now it has.

Bouygues have two new offers. One at 9,99 which has two hours of calls, unlimited SMS and 20mb download per month. They also have a 19,99 offer give 3Gb of download but more interesting free French calls and unlimited international call's. Both packages give free access to their 'Hot Spots'. Interesting times.

http://www.lemonde.fr/technologies/article/2012/01/13/bouygues-telecom-aligne-ses-tarifs-sur-free-mobile_1629546_651865.html

[pachapapa]

Idem SFR & Orange.

Finally an end to all those years of "arnaque" by the oligopoly manipulating prices.

[Chancer]

[quote user="pachapapa"]

Idem SFR & Orange.

Finally an end to all those years of "arnaque" by the oligopoly manipulating prices.

[/quote]

Isnt that exactly what Free did with the old internet service providers, blew tham out of the water?

It was before my time but I often hear stories about the bad old days with the likes of Club Internet IIRC.

NormanH is the social forfait really free for us "Free" subscribers? I have been out of contact with the world for a week, before I left I had decided to change from Lebara to Lycamobile, I ordered a free carte sim but it hasnt been delivered, the Free one sounds ideal for me from what you say, how do I get it? - I havnt even switched on the Tv yet, perhaps there is a banner message.

Good on Xavier whatsisface I say! I do hope not many of you were tempted by the offers of the other mobile operators in the last year, they were all desperate to ramasser customers and have them signed up for a couple of years before Free launched its offer. 

[Chancer]

Well I found it in my Espace Abonnée, it does indeed appear to be "free" for me apart from €10 for the carte sim and delivery however  I went through all the stages, chose a number etc but it wont allow me to go through to the payment stage, anyone else had this problem?

While I was away  my French bank sent a recorded delivery letter to my UK address telling me that they were closing my account, no explanation but it is just possible that I have gone less than €20 overdrawn perhaps precipitating their decision and my Free abonnemnt may not have been paid this month which may explain my difficulties.

[NormanH]

Have a look at this page:

http://mobile.free.fr/

In fact the deal is 2€ but 0€ if you already have a freebox

Click on the big central box to sign up...it transfers you detail across from the other subscription.

BUT

It is limited, and you should look at the limits

You get 60 mins of calls in France

60 Sms to France.

Any calls or Sms to the UK are billed on top (19cts a minute for calls), whereas with my existing PAYG card they came out of what I had paid.

There is also a penalty for calling funny numbers etc.

Once you go past 10€ of extras it seems to go up in blocks of 10€, but I haven't wrestled with that as I am unlikely to go over.

PS you have to keep trying to get though...the site is saturated ay popular times..

You can keep your number...call 3719 from your existing phone and it will tell you the code to enter where it says code RIO..

[pachapapa]

Good on you Norman.[:)]

While you wereposting I was copying following from T&C.

Les appels inclus dans le forfait sont décomptés à la seconde dès la 1ère seconde. Les appels hors forfait sont facturés selon le cas: à la seconde dès la 1ère seconde, à la seconde

les 30 premières secondes étant indivisibles ou à la minute la première minute étant indivisible (voir grille tarifaire).

Service accessible en 3G sur le réseau Free Mobile dans les fréquences 900 et 2100 MHz et en itinérance 2G/3G sur tout ou partie du réseau d’un opérateur historique partenaire.

Avec un mobile compatible (cf. mobile.free.fr). Pour un usage privé entre deux individus. Dans le cadre d’une utilisation non abusive (cf. mobile.free.fr).

Ce forfait est valable pour une utilisation exclusivement depuis la France Métropolitaine.

(1) Offre valable pour les abonnés titulaires d’un abonnement au Forfait Freebox en cours à la date de souscription du Forfait 2€. Offre valable pour une seule ligne mobile. En cas

de résiliation du Forfait Freebox, perte du bénéfice de l’offre.

(2) Appels voix depuis la France Métropolitaine vers les fixes et mobiles métropolitains (hors numéros courts, spéciaux, surtaxés et autres services à valeur ajoutée). Pas de report

de minutes.

(3) SMS vers les mobiles métropolitains (hors SMS surtaxés). Dans la limite de 10 destinataires/envoi. Pas de report de SMS.

(4) Crédit valable 1 mois à compter de son activation. MMS vers les mobiles métropolitains (hors MMS surtaxés). Dans la limite de 10 destinataires/envoi. Internet mobile en 3G en

France Métropolitaine. Avec Mobile compatible.

(5) Renvoi d’appels vers les numéros métropolitains fixes (numéros en 01 à 05 et 09) et mobiles (06 à 07), à l’exclusion du renvoi d’appels vers les numéros courts, spéciaux,

surtaxés et autres services à valeur ajoutée ainsi que vers l’étranger et l’Outre-mer qui est interdit.

(6) Crédit valable 3 mois à compter de son activation. Appels voix depuis la France Métropolitaine. Les appels sont décomptés du crédit par application des tarifs des destinations

appelées (voir grille tarifaire).

(7) En cas d’achat du mobile auprès de Free Mobile dans les 24 heures suivant la souscription au Forfait 2€. A défaut, la carte SIM et l’envoi du terminal sont facturés séparément

suivant les tarifs de la brochure tarifaire

 

[pachapapa]

The surcharges from T&C if you go over the limit on one of the options.

60 minutes de consommation téléphonique puis 0,05 €/mn2

60 SMS puis 0,01 €/SMS3

the 2 and 3 refer to prevous post.

[Chancer]

I recall when I first was a Free abonnée and my French was very poor, in fact my great improvement since then has been due only having French TV, anyway I found a channel called "Free movies" and I thought great! So having watched a few when the first payment went out of my bank including the pay to view movies I learnt the lesson that in France at least "Free" does not mean "free", no such thing as a free lunch etc.

I didnt notice it on the website but the banner advert on my telly made me look a bit closer, not that I could actually read the small print before the banner conveniently disappeared.

Anyway Norman, the bad news is that our free "Free mobicarte forfait social" aint free [:(]

It costs nothing for the first month but we pay the same €2 per month thereafter.

So I shall be continuing with my remaining credit with Lebara before using the Lycamobile one which should by now have arrived which was free! Gratis! Nada! [;-)]

[pachapapa]

[quote user="Chancer"]

Anyway Norman, the bad news is that our free "Free mobicarte forfait social" aint free [:(]

It costs nothing for the first month but we pay the same €2 per month thereafter.

So I shall be continuing with my remaining credit with Lebara before using the Lycamobile one which should by now have arrived which was free! Gratis! Nada! [;-)]

[/quote]

The name Free is based on the fact that the use of the Internet FAI Service was free unlike other FAIs at the time.

Whilst I have not, as yet, had time to read the Free Mobile publicity and T&C; a cursory look suggests that for a Free ADSL subscriber the FIRST FORFAIT is free or € 15,99 for the unlimited with the monthly charges NOT changing after the first month.

This to me would seem to me to be quite reasonable in contractual terms; simply avoiding an ADSL subscriber creating forfaits for the members of his family, etc.

The SECOND FORFAIT pays normal fee.

[NormanH]

That is how I understood it, but perhaps Chancer has information from elsewhere.

I took the 15,99€ offer as my single forfait, and the 2€ as a second, paying as normal.

What I can't find anywhere is the mention that the deals change after a month.

It may well be true, and I shall find out, but in looking around I found quite a bit of disinformation on French Fora...either from competitors in disguise, or disgruntled subscribers to other offer tied in by recently agreed contracts.

The Free offers are supposed to be 'sans engagement', so I can always go elsewhere.

[pachapapa]

What I can't find anywhere is the mention that the deals change after a month.

Nor can I find anything, either!

But I have found on FreeZone a Free subscriber who had opted for the € 16 deal as first forfait and when he wanted to opt for a second forfait at € 20 then he had to open a new "compte" for the second forfait.[geek]

[Chancer]

Yes it looks like you guys are right[:D]

The combination of my méfiance and far from perfect French meant that I read premier forfait as being the first months charge not the first contract, still I have just spent a week speaking only English and in France to boot [:-))]

Happy days for all of us [B]