Free (ISP)
This article contains text that is written in a promotional tone. (January 2024) |
Company type | S.A.S. |
---|---|
Industry | Telecommunications |
Founded | 26 April 1999 |
Founder | Xavier Niel |
Headquarters | , France |
Area served | France |
Key people |
|
Products | Freebox, Freebox TV
|
Services |
|
Owner | Iliad |
Subsidiaries | Free Mobile (100%) Free Infrastructure (100%) |
Website | www |
Free
Free provides ISP services in France
Developing its own 3G and 4G networks, Free Mobile was launched in 2012 and became the fourth mobile network operator in France.
History
1999–2001
Free was the third ISP in France to offer
In 2002, Free was the first
Free dial-up offer milestones | |||
---|---|---|---|
Date | Technology | Down IP | Up IP |
1999-04-26[10] | Voiceband
|
56 kbit/s | 33,6 kbit/s |
2002-02-27[11] | V.92
|
56 kbit/s | 48 kbit/s |
2002-2003: ADSL at a disruptive price
Since September 2002, Free contributed significantly to French
Free bundled ADSL offer milestones | |||
---|---|---|---|
Date | Technology | Down ATM | Up ATM |
2002-09-19[4] | ADSL
|
512 kbit/s | 128 kbit/s |
2003-12-12[13] | ADSL
|
1024 kbit/s | 128 kbit/s |
2004-07-27[14] | ADSL
|
2048 kbit/s | 128 kbit/s |
2005-02-09[15] | ADSL
|
10 Mbit/s | 320 kbit/s |
2005-07-20[16] | ADSL
|
10 Mbit/s | 1 Mbit/s |
2008-03-20[17] | ADSL2+
|
22 Mbit/s | 1 Mbit/s |
2004-2006: Unbundled ADSL and "triple play"
Unbundling, in France, refers to the obligation for the incumbent carrier
Free has to pay a rental fee of €9 per month and per subscriber to the incumbent for the twisted pair of copper between the area central office and the subscriber premises.[19] Although more expensive than the real cost of €7.63,[20] this solution is still far more profitable than the bundled option.
Since January 2003, a Freenaut has maintained an unofficial website, showing figures and graphics about Free unbundled network deployment (Free Unbundling).[21] Another Freenaut website has provided network status monitoring maps Unbundling status and location[22] since the end of 2003. These initiatives are made possible thanks to the transparency of Free's network: their equipment replies to ping and has a meaningful reverse DNS.
Free unbundled ADSL offer milestones | |||
---|---|---|---|
Date | Technologies | Down ATM | Up ATM |
2003-11-27[6] | ADSL
|
1024 kbit/s | 256 kbit/s |
2003-12-12[13] | ADSL
|
2048 kbit/s | 256 kbit/s |
2004-06-04[23] | ADSL
|
5 Mbit/s | 350 kbit/s |
2004-08-24[24] | ADSL
|
6 Mbit/s | 1 Mbit/s |
2004-10-20[25] | ADSL2+
|
15 Mbit/s | 1 Mbit/s |
2005-01-06[26] | ADSL2+
|
20 Mbit/s | 1 Mbit/s |
2005-11-08[27] | ADSL2+
|
24 Mbit/s | 1 Mbit/s |
2006-07-26[28] |
|
28 Mbit/s | 1 Mbit/s |
2007-06-21[29] | 28 Mbit/s | 1 Mbit/s |
2007-present: Fiber to the home
Free FTTH deployment milestones | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Date | Technology | Down IP | Up IP | Deployment |
2006-09-11[30] | Iliad P2P[31] | 50 Mbit/s | 50 Mbit/s | One NRO and some testers in Paris |
2007-08-31[32] | Iliad P2P[31] | 100 Mbit/s | 50 Mbit/s | Some NROs and few subscribers in Paris[31] |
2008-06-26[32] | Iliad P2P[31] | 100 Mbit/s | 50 Mbit/s | Inauguration of Montpellier FTTH network[33] |
2009-12-01[32] | Iliad P2P[31] | 100 Mbit/s | 50 Mbit/s | Inauguration of Valenciennes FTTH network[34] |
On 11 November 2006, Free announced the deployment of a new
On 31 August 2007, Free updated the offer with more details. Download bandwidth shall be 100 Mbit/s and TV services shall be available for two televisions, at the same price of €29.99/month.[32]
Free has developed its own fiber network technology, called
The deployment is still essentially in the horizontal phase (the vertical phase being connection to the subscriber premises), and large-scale deployment to customers is foreseen.[37] On 26 June 2008, Maxime Lombardini and the mayor inaugurated Free's FTTH network in a district of Montpellier.[33]
In March 2008,
Offers
Voiceband
Extent
The
Pricing
Free began its activities with the famous free-of-charge Internet access, although data phone calls fees are not included. Another offer combines an Internet access with 50 hours of data phone calls for 14.94 euros per month.
Freebox offer
Initially, Freebox was the name of the Freebox device, which consists of the Set-top box and Modem. Because of the device's popularity and reputation, it eventually became the name of the offer.
- Price: 29.99 euros;
- Best FTTH, unbundled or bundled;
- "FTTH connection) services;
- Free-of-charge migration to better connectivity when available to subscriber;
- Possibility to update the Freebox device; the upgrade price decreases with time and is free of charge after three years of subscription;
- A /60 IPv6 prefix.[43][44]
Services
Internet access
- Early IPv6 deployment
According to a study published by Google at the RIPE meeting in October 2008, Free is probably the largest native IPv6 ISP in the World.[45] By end 2008, almost all French IPv6 traffic measured in the study comes from Free customers.[45]
Free deployed the IPv6 infrastructure in only 5 weeks, from 7 November to 11 December 2007, thanks to an innovative 6rd (IPv6 rapid deployment) proposal by Rémi Després.[44]
- Wi-Fi community network
In May 2009 Free reconfigured the set-top boxes to act as Wi-Fi hotspots by default. With over 3 million hotspots,[46] it is thought to be the largest Wi-Fi hotspot network in the world during that time. They require authentication which makes them only accessible to Free's ADSL and now mobile customers. Their main use is thus to let customers away from home continue accessing the Internet using the ADSL connection of other Free customer within Wi-Fi range. For security reasons this access is isolated from the ADSL user's normal Wi-Fi network, and is given lower priority.
Telephone
- Included telephone calls
Included international phone calls | ||
---|---|---|
Date | Number of destinations at no extra cost | |
Landline | Mobiles | |
July 2003[5] |
1 (Metropolitan France, un-bundled subscribers only) |
0 |
March 2004[47] |
1 (Metropolitan France, all subscribers since then) |
0 |
December 2005[48] |
15 (Austria, Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, United Kingdom, United States) |
2 (United States and Canada) |
June 2006[49] |
26 (Taiwan, Norway, Canary Islands, Jersey, Greece...) |
2 |
January 2007[50] |
49 (Turkey, Poland, Luxembourg, Russia, Japan...) |
2 |
September 2007[51] |
70 (Peru, Venezuela, South Korea, New Zealand...) |
2 |
February 2009[52][53] | 2 | |
December 2009[54] |
103 (Morocco, Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago) |
2 |
In 2003, Free introduced unlimited phone calls at no additional price, while other
In 2006, Free and
Telephone services
A wide range of telephone services are provided at no additional cost, such as an online
Since April 2007, each customer has been assigned a fax number in addition to the traditional phone number. This additional line is dedicated to the online faxing service.[57]
Television
IPTV leader
According to a study published in 2008 by Light Reading,
ARDP protocol creator
Access rights of television channels are applied securely without requiring any smartcard, thanks to the ARDP[60] protocol created by Free and submitted to the community through the IETF.
Freebox device
The sole property of Free, the Freebox device is loaned to the customer for the duration of the ADSL contract. More than a simple ADSL modem, it is the primary conduit through which Free provides many of its services. It also replaces many devices that customers may otherwise have to purchase and thus provides added value of its own. Customers wishing to use newer models – such as the Freebox Revolution – must pay an extra fee.
The latest revision is actually composed of two parts:
- A 'Server' device which houses an ADSL / optical fiber modem, 4 port gigabit switch, DECT wireless phone base, UPnPmedia server and more.
- A 'Player' set-top box which acts as an Blu-rayplayer, gaming console equipped with a gamepad and motion sensing remote, web browser.
Other services
- Unlimited
- 10 GB personal pages[62] (PHP, MySQL/PostgreSQL, web tools such as WordPress)
- Large file exchange (up to 10 movie player, etc...
Corporate affairs
Since August 2008, the parent company
In 2007 (a major
Free was the second-largest French ISP until end June 2007, when competitor Neuf Cegetel acquired Club Internet (T-Online France).[64] Neuf Cegetel used to grow essentially by purchasing its competitors, until it was itself absorbed by SFR. Until 2009, Free has always had a higher organic growth than Neuf Cegetel and SFR.[65]
Until the purchase of Alice France,
Free broadband subscribers and market share since 2002 | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Free Broadband subscribers | ADSL subscribers in France
|
Broadband subscribers in France | |||||
Bundled | Unbundled | Total[68] | Unbundling ratio | Total[69] | Free market share | Total[69] | Free market share | |
2002 | 95,000 | 3,000 | 98,000 | 3.1% | 1,361,377 | 7.2% | ||
2003 | 320,000 | 153,000 | 473,000 | 32.4% | 2,967,434 | 15.9% | ||
2004 | 500,000 | 549,000 | 1,049,000 | 52.4% | 6,072,723 | 17.2% | 6,529,997 | 16.0% |
2005[70] | 475,000 | 1,120,000 | 1,595,000 | 70.2% | 8,881,875 | 17,9% | 9,500,000 | 16,8% |
2006[70] | 548,000 | 1,730,000 | 2,278,000 | 75.9% | 12,019,000 | 19.0% | 12,700,000 | 17.9% |
2007[37] | 537,000 | 2,367,000 | 2,904,000 | 81.5% | 14,741,000 | 19.7% | 15,550,000 | 18.7% |
2008[71] | 901,132 | 3,323,868 | 4,225,000 | 78.7% | 16,804,000 | 25.1% | 17,819,000 | 23.7% |
2009[72] | 651,000 | 3,805,000 | 4,456,000 | 85.4% | 18,500,000 | 24.1% | 19,690,000 | 22.6% |
- Free has the lowest churn rate amongst French broadband providers, below 1% per month.[63][73]
- FTTH) subscribers by 2010 and an unbundling ratio of 85%.[73]
Profitability
Free claims to be the first profitable ISP in France[4] and to have the lowest subscriber acquisition cost amongst French operators.[70]
The unbundling ratio is one of the key strategic figures:
- Free has DSLAMs.
- Bundled lines generate expensive France Telecom.[19]
- DSLAMs.
Because of bandwidth cost,
In 2007, Free had the greatest
Although investors are concerned about the investments in both the 3G mobile network and an FTTH network (1 billion euros each),[74] the perspectives of Free and of the whole sector in Europe are promising according to analysts.[75]
Logos and slogans
-
The original logo featuring a jumping character and the first slogan.
-
The simplified logo, used since 2006.
Year | Slogan (translation) | Original French slogan |
---|---|---|
1999 | Freedom does not have a price | La Liberté n'a pas de Prix |
2007 | Play on words: "It's all included" or, alternatively, "It's all well understood" | C'est tout compris |
2008 | Without doubt the best offer since a long time | Sans doute la meilleure offre depuis bien longtemps |
2009 | He has Free, he has all included (wordplay: all included/understood ) | Il a Free, il a tout compris |
2011 | Feel Free[76] | |
2012 | Thanks Free! | Merci Free ! |
Criticism
On 3 January 2013 at 4pm in France, Free released a new firmware for its latest modem named "Revolution" which contained an
Since Free is one of the biggest ISP in France, worries started to raise of French hosting forums concerning the people's interest into Ad blockers in general.
See also
General
- Free Mobile − Mobile broadband company
- Freebox − First "triple play" set-top box in the world
Services
References
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- ^ a b "In Europe, VoIP Grows & Grows". 6 March 2009. Retrieved 17 February 2008.
- OECD. 25 April 2006. Retrieved 12 March 2009.
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- ^ a b "The Telecom Exploits of Iliad". 5 December 2005. Archived from the original on 30 April 2006. Retrieved 30 November 2008.
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- ^ "Actualité / Les titres de la presse du mardi 20 janvier 2009" (in French). ARCEP.
- ^ francois04.free.fr (in French)
- ^ frimousse.org (in French)
- Iliad. 4 June 2004. Retrieved 10 February 2008.
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- ^ Iliad. 11 September 2006. Archived from the original(PDF) on 18 October 2007. Retrieved 17 February 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f "Pourquoi Free peine à déployer son réseau de fibre optique" (in French). 31 October 2007. Retrieved 17 February 2008.
- ^ Iliad. 31 August 2007. Archived from the original(PDF) on 27 November 2008. Retrieved 17 February 2008.
- ^ a b "Free inaugure le FTTH" (in French). 26 June 2008. Retrieved 29 June 2008.
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- ^ .
- ^ a b Gunderson, Steinar (24 October 2008). "Global IPv6 Statistics" (PDF). p. 20. Retrieved 30 November 2008.
- ^ "Hotspots FreeWifi".
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- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Univers Freebox teste Zimbra, le nouveau webmail des Freenautes" (in French). Universfreebox.com. 20 April 2008. Retrieved 16 May 2009.
- Iliad. 21 June 2006. Retrieved 10 February 2008.
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- ^ "Neuf Cegetel Mass Market broadband customers top the 3 million mark" (PDF) (Press release). Neuf Cegetel. 2 July 2007. Retrieved 23 February 2008.
- ^ "SFR tient sa revanche sur Internet" (in French). 1 September 2009. Retrieved 4 September 2009.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Iliad. 26 August 2008. Archived from the original(PDF) on 25 November 2008. Retrieved 30 November 2008.
- Iliad. 20 October 2006. Retrieved 10 February 2008.
- Iliad.
- ^ a b "High-speed Internet Observatory". ARCEP.
- ^ Iliad. 7 February 2007. Archived from the original(PDF) on 18 October 2007. Retrieved 10 February 2008.
- Iliad. 12 February 2009. Archived from the original(PDF) on 6 March 2009. Retrieved 12 June 2010.
- Iliad. 11 February 2010. Archived from the original(PDF) on 31 March 2010. Retrieved 12 June 2010.
- ^ Iliad. 29 October 2007. Archived from the original(PDF) on 27 November 2008. Retrieved 10 February 2008.
- ^ "Iliad : des performances sans équivalents en Europe" (in French). 20 March 2009. Retrieved 30 March 2009.[dead link]
- ^ "European Telecoms Operators in Strong Position to Ride Out Recession". 10 March 2009. Retrieved 30 March 2009.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Free : Mr Easy remplace Rodolphe et change de slogan (vidéos)". 5 January 2011. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
Further reading
- ISBN 978-2-13-056631-1.
- Despres, Rémi (January 2010). RFC 5569, 6rd – IPv6 Rapid Deployment. IETF.
- Cassen, Alexandre (25 May 2009). Access Right Distribution Protocol (ARDP). IETF.