When Free mobile signed a roaming agreement with Orange to launch its offer in 2012, ARCEP had associated it with a plan to follow to gradually limit the use of the incumbent’s network. The idea was to force the newcomer to build his own network, which he has done little by little over the years. At the last count, roaming was fell below 10%, which means that more than 90% of connections are now made on Free’s own network.
So much the better, because Orange’s network will become even more unbearable in a few days. Already limited for one year to 768 kbit / s, it will be limited in 2020 to 384 kbit / s only, in reception as in sending. A flow half as fast, but it was already very slow until then. Roaming can be used to make calls and send or receive text messages, but even browsing light sites will seem soft now.
Orange’s 3G access will be cut completely by the end of the year, which means that Free mobile will need to have completed its network by 2021 to provide good internet access to its subscribers. Access to the incumbent operator’s 2G network will provide it with a last stand until 2022.
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