Tech

5G: for Free, the key to success is to lower the price of packages

Even if the massive adoption of 5G is still to be accomplished, French operators are confident on the subject and are betting on the long term. Still, in Free’s eyes, the success of 5G with the general public will have to go through a significant reduction in the price of 5G packages.

5g free success price
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Slowly, but surely, 5G is registering more and more users around the world. In November 2021, they were nearly 520 million to benefit from the new generation of mobile network. A performance, especially when we know that 5G was launched a little over a year ago. As the CEO of Huawei clarified, 5G owes its success to the large number of sites installed around the globe: more than 1.5 million.

However, in France as elsewhere, 5G is still far from having been adopted massively. Thus and as explained in the columns of the Parisian Laëtitia Orsini-Sharps, marketing director of consumer offers at Orange, 5G offers only representa quarter of new subscriptions signed on average this year. The fact remains that sales of compatible smartphones are doing well, further proof of the interest that users have in this technology.

Representing 1% of the traffic on its network in May 2021, 5G currently occupies 2.5% of Bouygues Telecom’s mobile traffic. “It is twice as important as 4G one year after its launch ”, assures the operator. As for Free, the company led by Xavier Niel is aware that the transition will take several years : “A new technology does not impose itself in a few months, 4G has taken several years to seduce consumers, there are brakes to remove such as coverage, equipment or the package ”, explains the marketing and advertising communication director of Free Camille Perrin.

5G will hit the nail on the head when prices drop according to Free

Providing the greatest possible network coverage remains the number one objective of operators, and for the moment Free is on track to keep its promise of reaching 80% by the end of 2021 (currently at 72%). . But by Free’s admission, the adoption of 5G can take on a more important dimension only if the price of the offers decreases accordingly.

This is why the operator has chosen to integrate 5G into its flagship package offered at € 19.99 per month. Despite everything, this remains insufficient in his eyes, considering that “the current packages are not yet aggressive enough and do not cover digital offers because operators need to sell more expensive subscriptions ”. It must be said that on average, a 5G package is currently negotiated between 30 and 35 € per month, all operators combined. For the OEM Ericsson, the success of 5G is on track and he promises that it will be the norm by 2027.

Source: The Parisian

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