Are mobile plans in France the cheapest in Europe and in the world?

The Minister of the Economy spoke about RTL to explain that he is monitoring this sensitive issue. “I am going to be extremely vigilant about this operation because today, in France, we have the prices of mobile phones and subscriptions among the cheapest in Europe, among the cheapest in the world.”

No, France does not have the cheapest packages

But is this statement from Roland Lescure true? The reality is much more nuanced. According to a report published by the European Commission in 2022, this is not the case. Brussels has studied all the offers available on the Old Continent, but also in Great Britain, Japan, and the United States.

The document confirms that it is in Europe that we find the most competitive prices, apart from Japan and its even more affordable packages. Several countries stand out and are well ahead of France in terms of prices. Denmark and Romania are in first place on the podium in the category of least expensive packages, according to Brussels.

We are talking about subscriptions which start at €8 per month for 100 GB of mobile Internet and 100 call minutes. But France is also classified among the countries where offers are accessible, without being at the top.

French operators have a completely different strategy and focus on quality and high-end services. We find more speed, unlimited calls and SMS, generous Internet envelopes. For around €15 per month, a basic subscription in France offers 20 GB of data.

Obviously, operators are following the consumption habits of the French since 70% of them spend less than €20 per month for their mobile plans. This amount represents half of what Portuguese or Hungarian users pay, two countries which are among the worst positioned in the ranking.

Subscriptions with television, fixed Internet and mobile also show large differences. Romania and Lithuania display prices well below those charged in France for these bouquets. In these countries, packages start at around €23 per month compared to around thirty euros in France. But our operators compensate for this difference with higher speeds.