While all phone operators have increased prices in 2024, some are preparing more discreet price increases in the coming months.
Under the influence of inflation, telecommunication operators such as SFR, Bouygues and Orange increased their prices. While it’s no secret to anyone, least of all bill-paying consumers, other price increases are being prepared in a more discreet way. In fact, operators are obliged to inform their users about these changes, but the communication is not always clear and transparent.
Bouygues and SFR are the first operators to increase bills for their customers in 2024. Bouygues has launched increases ranging from 1 to 3 euros per month, depending on the offer the customer subscribes to. The operator SFR, for its part, increased its bills for February in the range of 0.69 euros to 0.99 euros per month for almost all of its SFR and Red by SFR packages. However, the operator was discreet with this information, contenting himself with an insert at the bottom of the bill for January, which may have surprised many users.
Increases were also recorded in Orange during April and May 2024. Especially on one of the most popular offers, the Open package. The operator informed its users via e-mail about the automatic offer change, increasing the envelope of the corresponding mobile plan from 10 to 40 gigabytes per month. Obviously, this improvement to the offering wasn’t free. Consumers noticed that the price jumped by 2 euros per month, to 58.99 euros.
Since users have never asked for a better internet connection or a better mobile network, many interpret this change as a form of hard sell. Although Orange offers its customers the option to reject this change in the offer, by going to their network customer area, some claim that they often encountered technical problems when connecting when they wanted to reject the offer. Still others, on the forums of the consumer association UFC-Que-Choisir, claim to have noticed an increase in their bills despite their denial.
Many users complain about these price increases, equating them with the increases they have suffered. Users of package offers (mobile + internet) are especially targeted by the operator because they are less likely to cancel their subscription due to the complexity of changing both the mobile plan and the internet box.
Although criticized, this practice remains legal. Article L224-33 of the Consumer Law authorizes telecom operators to increase their prices, provided that they notify their customers at least one month in advance and give them the option of free cancellation within four months of this notification. Consumers then have a choice between accepting the change or canceling the subscription, unless the operator offers them the option to keep the initial offer.