The operators had announced the color. The potion is no less bitter for customers. Already notable in mobile plans, the inflation in the price of internet access is extending to landlines. This is in any case the conclusion of the quarterly study by Arcep, which noted in its latest publication carried out Thursday evening the increase of 2% on average in the price of access to high and very high speed. Unheard of for at least more than ten years, Arcep estimates. “The average bill for users of these services thus increases by 1.20 euros in one year to reach 34.50 euros excluding tax per month, due to price increases occurring on the market,” underlines the telecoms regulator.
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An analysis that echoes the study released at the beginning of the month by panelist Zone ADSL
However, these figures must be put into perspective. Until now, the prices of fixed packages (and mobile ones, moreover) had been protected from inflation. At the rate observed by Zone ADSL
But the increase in costs that operators themselves face, particularly for energy and equipment, has led them, with the exception of Free, to assume price increases. Its parent company of Free, Iliad, also indicated during its latest quarterly results that the company’s energy bill was at levels twice as high as the pre-crisis situation, despite the relaxation on the steps.
Obviously, the revenue they earn from fixed services increased over the quarter compared to last year, by 2%. However, it is difficult for these operators to push the cursor too high. A study carried out by Oliver Wyman in a handful of European countries reveals that more than one in two French people want to change operator and that 30% of them intend to turn to low-cost suppliers. Price remains the main driver of customer choice, well ahead of network reliability or additional services (banking, for example) that operators can offer.
Furthermore, operators must be careful not to hamper the recruitment dynamic on fiber, whose packages are more expensive than the ADSL equivalent. If the growth in the number of fiber subscriptions remained high, at 790,000 subscribers between the first quarter of 2023 and the second, growth slows down quite significantly compared to 2022, while France has a base of 16, 2 million premises not subscribed to optical fiber but can be connected. The subject is being taken seriously by the telecoms regulator in the context of the closure of the ADSL network, expected for 2030.