Free at Last

Where to begin?

Often I like to rub it in my American family's face that I get unlimited ADSL, unlimited international calling from the landline to landlines and cells, and tv with digital recording option (think Tivo)all for the low low price of €30 a month.

This magical company is called Free, and the package is called Freebox. (Use of English is very creative for French marketers, in a country where creativity languishes like lily pads in the desert)

I love my freebox because I can call my American family for no fees.

However Free has outdone themselves.

Back in the day France Telecom was a government owned monopoly. They had control over the entire market and in 2000 the government sold FT and it had its IPO.
Since then two other companies were started and the three of them, Bouygues, France Telecom (rebranded Orange after one too many employee suicides, due to on purpose horrible management)and SFR had an amicale arrangement between them to keep the market profitable for them.

So arriving in 2003, I was not prepared to pay €60 for 5H of monthly talk time with a 2 year contract (indeed, who knew how long I'd actually stay here?)
I took my pay as you go (that I never had money to charge) and accepted the consequences on my social life. Imagine, not being able to call people back or write back (or even first). Or insisting that the RDV be at a fixed point and time to avoid having to find a payphone to call them to ask that typical phone question "T'es où?" (Where are you?)
So it was sure that my economy did not facilitate the making of friends here.

Back to Free, bless them. On January 12th, after months of speculation, they finally opened their offers for cell phones.

For €20 I get unlimited data, texts, and calling to all numbers in France, landlines in Europe and cells and landlines in many other countries in the world including US and Canada. No contract, cancel anytime.

It did of course take a week for my sim card to arrive in the mail.
And of course iphone did not like having the sim card changed, and caused problems.
And of course Jerome manipulated it in a way that made all my non-apple apps cease working, eventually leading to a complete restore and the loss of my entire music library.
I find it difficult to get into the phoning mode, having been without for so long.

And now that free has broken the market, the others dare sink lower. They couldn't have had the conscious to offer cheaper products as theirs were the most expensive in Europe almost, and many people could not afford it until they were made to by competition. I think that is shameful, and very typical of France.
I will never ever leave Free. I feel so justified in my sacrifice and saved that they are here.
As they say, you vote with your dollars, and I feel happy because I never gave those other companies, who could have lowered their prices at any time, my hard earned money.