Free released an analysis of its 2008 results that stated that it has 423,868 unbundled subscribers as part of the business that it acquired from Alice, France. All of these subscribers can get free IPTV channels as part of their broadband service, assuming that they have an appropriate set-top box. Adding these Alice unbundled subscribers to Free's 2.900,000 unbundled subscribers give the company a total of 3,323,868 unbundled subscribers.
All of the Free unbundled subscribers have a set-top box that can receive its IPTV service. Free recently made a similar set-top box available to its Alice subscribers.
It is always interesting counting IPTV subscribers for Free. I think it is fair to count all of Free's 2.9M unbundled subscribers. How to handle the Alice unbundled subscribers is less clear. Today, I would split the difference. In another couple of years, I would count all of them.
Showing posts with label Free. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Free. Show all posts
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Free Up to 2.9 IPTV Capable Subscrbers
Free in France now had 2.9 million unbundled subscribers at the end of 2008, nearly all of who are capable of receiving IPTV programming on their Freebox gateway/set-top box. This is an increase of 534,000 from the end of 2007.
The company did not report on IPTV viewing. I believe that there are about another 150,000 IPTV subscribers that are part of its Alice France Telecom Italia acquisition. In my mind Free has more IPTV viewers than any other provider globally.
The company did not report on IPTV viewing. I believe that there are about another 150,000 IPTV subscribers that are part of its Alice France Telecom Italia acquisition. In my mind Free has more IPTV viewers than any other provider globally.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Free at 4.1M Broadband Subscribers
Free in France ended 3Q08 with 4.125 million ADSL subscriber with 3.275 million under the Free brand and 850 thousand under the Alice brand. The number of Free broadband subscribers increased by 134,000 during the quarter.
Free did not give enough information to unravel the number of IPTV subscribers. Based on history, the number of IPTV subscribers appears to be more than 2.7 million.
Free did not give enough information to unravel the number of IPTV subscribers. Based on history, the number of IPTV subscribers appears to be more than 2.7 million.
Friday, October 10, 2008
France Establishes Fiber Rules
ARCEP, the French electronic communication regulatory authority, has defined the main points necessary to guarantee an extensive, open and competitive fiber rollout:
- the deployment of additional fibers at the request of another operator and financed by the latter;
- the location of the shared access point on public land;
- the presence of a single operator for a building, providing all services from the shared access point to subscribers' plugs.
The competitive broadband carrier, Free, supports this approach and is calling for all operators come together and formalise an agreement to bring optic fiber to French households as quickly as possible.
France is leading the way in Europe to define a new regulatory regime for fiber that includes each operator laying its own fiber using shared ducts. It will be interesting to see if this approach spreads to Asia or North America.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Free's Has 2.9 million VOD Views in 1H08
Free released detailed information on its 1H08 results. There was no change to the information in my previous post. It did announce that it had 2.883 million video on demand and subscription video on demand views during the half compared to 1.874 million in the same period in 2007.
There were a few additional facts of interest:
Free is one of the most interesting broadband and IPTV companies around. It is worth taking a look at its presentation and report for the half.
There were a few additional facts of interest:
- Its ARPU remained flat at 36.3 euros per month during the half.
- The percentage of its customers using Free as their only telecom provider increased to 71 percent at the end of June 2008 from 64 percent at the end of 2007.
Free is one of the most interesting broadband and IPTV companies around. It is worth taking a look at its presentation and report for the half.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Free Acquires Alice France
Iliad, the parent of the French broadband provider Free, has completed its acquisition of Alice France for 775 million euros. This price reflects:
This acquisition puts Free ahead of Neuf Cegetel, which achieved the leading position through a series of acquisitions. Free has set the standard offering for broadband in France with a complete triple play offering of 29.99 euros per month.
Frees next challenge is how to enter the mobile market. Both France Telecom's Orange and Neuf Cegetel's parent company SFR are major mobile operators in France.
- A portfolio of about 850 thousand active subscribers
- Loss carry forwards which will generate a tax savings of 350 million euros for Iliad
- Cash and equivalents of 15 million euros
This acquisition puts Free ahead of Neuf Cegetel, which achieved the leading position through a series of acquisitions. Free has set the standard offering for broadband in France with a complete triple play offering of 29.99 euros per month.
Frees next challenge is how to enter the mobile market. Both France Telecom's Orange and Neuf Cegetel's parent company SFR are major mobile operators in France.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Free Adds 93K IPTV Subscribers in 2Q08 (Corrected)
Free, the competitive carrier in France, added 93 thousand new broadband subscribers in 2Q08, giving it 3.134 million at the end of 2Q08. It had 2.614 millionunbundled subscribers at the end of the quarter. Its penetration of unbundled subscribers increased to 83.4 percent at the end of 2Q08 compared to 81.5 percent at the end of 2007.
During the second quarter Free added the following to its service:
I estimated that virtually all of Free's unbundled subscribers are capable of receiving its IPTV service. This gives it a total of 2.6 million IPTV capable subscribers.
I found that I confunsed end of 2007 figures with 1Q08 figures in the original post.
During the second quarter Free added the following to its service:
- 802.11n support to its Feebox HD set-top box
- Pre-release of Canal+'s catch up TV service
- M6 HD and France 2 HD
- Promotion that provided a one year subscription to the Canal+ Le Bouquet premium package for 1 euro per month
I estimated that virtually all of Free's unbundled subscribers are capable of receiving its IPTV service. This gives it a total of 2.6 million IPTV capable subscribers.
I found that I confunsed end of 2007 figures with 1Q08 figures in the original post.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Free to Acqure Alice France
Variety has reported that Free in France will acquire Telecom Italia's Alice broadband provider. It has arranged a loan for $1.6 billion for this deal. Alice new has 850 thousand broadband subscribers. This will be a merger of the number three and four broadband providers in France and will put the combination into the number two position. France Telecom is number one and Neuf Cegetel will be pushed from number two to number three.
This is a good move for Free in response to the series of mergers that Neuf put together over the last few years that added Cegetel and Deutesche Telekom's Club Internet.
This is a good move for Free in response to the series of mergers that Neuf put together over the last few years that added Cegetel and Deutesche Telekom's Club Internet.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Free Negotiating for Alice France
Free, the competitive carrier in France, is negotiating to buy Telecom Italia's Alice broadband service in France for about 800 million euros. Free stated that it expects to complete this transaction by the end of 3Q08 subject to consultation with the employee representatives and other necessary approvals.
Free also stated that this transaction would move it back into the position of the leading competitive broadband carrier in France. It lost that position last year when Neuf Cegetel acquired Deutsche Telekom's Club Internet broadband service in France.
Free makes it sound like a done deal. It appears to be a good move by Free as long as the subscriber turnover is low during the transition.
Free also stated that this transaction would move it back into the position of the leading competitive broadband carrier in France. It lost that position last year when Neuf Cegetel acquired Deutsche Telekom's Club Internet broadband service in France.
Free makes it sound like a done deal. It appears to be a good move by Free as long as the subscriber turnover is low during the transition.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Free Adds 120K IPTV Subscribers
Free in France announced that it added 137 broadband subscribers in 1Q08 giving it a total of 3.014 million broadband subscribers at the end of the quarter. Its base service costs 29.99 euros per month. Its ARPU during the quarter was 36.20 euros per month.
Free enhanced its IPTV service in several ways during 1Q08:
Free enhanced its IPTV service in several ways during 1Q08:
- It introduced a subscription video on demand service that includes HD content for 9.99 euros per month.
- It introduced power line communications as a standard feature for its Freebox HD set-top box/home gateway.
- It introduced the ability for its subscribers to create websites that can be viewed on the TV
- A promotion for the Canalsat premium package at 10 euros per month for the first year rather than the standard price of 20.90 euros per month
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Free at 2.3 Million IPTV Capable Subscribers
In its 2007 earnings presentation Free stated that 2.3 million of its 2.9 million broadband subscribers were capable of receiving pay TV services. This is an increase from 1.7 million at the end of 2006. (This is the best estimate that I can find of the number of its subscribers that are capable of receiving IPTV services.)
Free also stated that 50.4 percent of its subscribers have a Freebox HD, which is capable of receiving HD content. It also stated that 80 percent of its subscribers are accessing Pay TV services. (It is not clear what this is 80 percent of. I will try to find out.)
Free also had 1.3 video on demand purchase and subscriptions in 4Q07, which is up from 768 thousand in 4Q06.
I have believed for a long time that Free is the leading IPTV service provider globally for a long time. The way it offers its service and presents its numbers makes this a bit murky. It is not clear how many of its subscribes actually watch TV using its service. However, it is so far ahead of any other IPTV service provider that these issues seem like quibbles.
Free also stated that 50.4 percent of its subscribers have a Freebox HD, which is capable of receiving HD content. It also stated that 80 percent of its subscribers are accessing Pay TV services. (It is not clear what this is 80 percent of. I will try to find out.)
Free also had 1.3 video on demand purchase and subscriptions in 4Q07, which is up from 768 thousand in 4Q06.
I have believed for a long time that Free is the leading IPTV service provider globally for a long time. The way it offers its service and presents its numbers makes this a bit murky. It is not clear how many of its subscribes actually watch TV using its service. However, it is so far ahead of any other IPTV service provider that these issues seem like quibbles.
Free's FTTH Plans in France
Free has given an update on its FTTH plans. It stated that there are three rationales for FTTH:
The company plans to spend 1 billion euros between now and 2012 to pass 4 million homes with fiber services by 2012. This will significantly reduce its dependence on France Telecom's network.
Free is also hoping for favorable regulatory rulings in France that will provide access to France Telecom's ducts along with a new law in 2008 that will regulate vertical deployment and building access.
Free expects to pass 70 percent of the homes in Paris by the end of 2009 using point-to-point active Ethernet technology. It also expects to pass 300 thousand additional homes in the rest of France including rollouts in Montpelier, Valenciennes, and the Paris suburbs.
Free has an aggressive FTTH plan in France and seems to be leading the market at this time. I believe that this investment will pay great dividends for the company. It is quite interesting to see that its FTTH investment is quite in line with its ADSL investment.
- Improved consumer experience based on higher data speeds, better HD support and improved ability to support multiple TVs, and the high satisfaction level of Free's existing FTTH subscribers.
- Technology improvements that provide higher quality and higher satisfaction with the service.
- Spending on CapEx for deploying fiber rather than OpEx unbundled loop rentals to France Telecom, lower churn and increased ARPU, and future proofing the network.
The company plans to spend 1 billion euros between now and 2012 to pass 4 million homes with fiber services by 2012. This will significantly reduce its dependence on France Telecom's network.
Free is also hoping for favorable regulatory rulings in France that will provide access to France Telecom's ducts along with a new law in 2008 that will regulate vertical deployment and building access.
Free expects to pass 70 percent of the homes in Paris by the end of 2009 using point-to-point active Ethernet technology. It also expects to pass 300 thousand additional homes in the rest of France including rollouts in Montpelier, Valenciennes, and the Paris suburbs.
Free has an aggressive FTTH plan in France and seems to be leading the market at this time. I believe that this investment will pay great dividends for the company. It is quite interesting to see that its FTTH investment is quite in line with its ADSL investment.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Free Provides TV Websites
Free in France is now making it possible for its subscribers to make their own web sites available to TV sets connected to Free's service. The new Telesite service permits Free subscribers to make their TV website accessible from their own TV or to all Free users. It is also possible to integrate videos into these TV websites. The Telesite service can be accessed from the main menu on the Freebox set-top box interface.
This is an interesting addition to IPTV services. I expect that other operators will follow suit and offer similar services themselves.
This is an interesting addition to IPTV services. I expect that other operators will follow suit and offer similar services themselves.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Free adds another 100K IPTV Subscribers
Free, the competitive carrier in France, added 137 thousand broadband suscribers in 4Q07 giving it a total of 2.904 million ADSL lines, 2.366 million of which are unbundled. The company expects to increase its unbundled lines from 81.5 percent of total broadband subscribers to 85 percent. It also has set an objective of having 4 million broadband subscribers by the end of 2010.
Free's ARPU reached a high of €36.3 in the 4Q07, an increase of 1 euro compared to the 3Q07 and 1.8 euros more than 4Q06. This increase is explained by the greater number of
unbundled subscribers, the use of premium services, such as Free Home Video (S-VOD).
During 2007 Free made the following enhancements to its IPTV service:
I always talk about "subscribers capable of receiving TV services" with Free. Its Freebox set-top box that is used by all of its subscribers comes with a TV decoder and a SCART connector. Consequently, Free provides 100 percent of its subscribers with the ability to connect to a TV. The question is what percentage of its TV capable subscribers actually watch the service. Free has not made any statements about this recently.
Free's ARPU reached a high of €36.3 in the 4Q07, an increase of 1 euro compared to the 3Q07 and 1.8 euros more than 4Q06. This increase is explained by the greater number of
unbundled subscribers, the use of premium services, such as Free Home Video (S-VOD).
During 2007 Free made the following enhancements to its IPTV service:
- 12new channels added
- TV services provided to PCs on all of its broadband lines
- SVOD service providing access to movies and TV series
- User contributed video service that can be viewed on the TV
I always talk about "subscribers capable of receiving TV services" with Free. Its Freebox set-top box that is used by all of its subscribers comes with a TV decoder and a SCART connector. Consequently, Free provides 100 percent of its subscribers with the ability to connect to a TV. The question is what percentage of its TV capable subscribers actually watch the service. Free has not made any statements about this recently.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Free offers Unlimitid Video On Demand in Francw
Free is expanding its Video-on-Demand subscription service available on TV by launching Free Home Video Premium to all Free subscribers eligible for the broadband TV service, for €9.99/month.
This new service gives unlimited access to all of Free's thematic collections, including Cinema, Series, Music, and Children’s Entertainment. It will soon include access to a Manga theme.
Free Home Video Premium also offers a choice of HD content, including films, series and concerts. This HD content includes Pirates of the Caribbean, Die Hard: with a Vengeance, Con Air and others.
With Free Home Video Premium, Free users can also access a music video jukebox available on TV, which allows them to create personalised playlists.
Free is continuing to innovate with its IPTV service. This new subscription video on demand service with its emphasis on HD content raises the bar in France. I expect that Free's competitors will have to respond with similar offerings.
This new service gives unlimited access to all of Free's thematic collections, including Cinema, Series, Music, and Children’s Entertainment. It will soon include access to a Manga theme.
Free Home Video Premium also offers a choice of HD content, including films, series and concerts. This HD content includes Pirates of the Caribbean, Die Hard: with a Vengeance, Con Air and others.
With Free Home Video Premium, Free users can also access a music video jukebox available on TV, which allows them to create personalised playlists.
Free is continuing to innovate with its IPTV service. This new subscription video on demand service with its emphasis on HD content raises the bar in France. I expect that Free's competitors will have to respond with similar offerings.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Free in France adds 100K IPTV Subscribers
In 3Q07, Free, the number three competitive carrier in France, added 141 broadband subscribers bringing its total to 2.767 million. It is forecasting that it will reach 2.8 million broadband subscribers by the end of 2007 and 4 million by 2010. It also expects to have 8 offices equipped to have FTTH services available to 241 thousand homes by the end of 2007.
The addition of 141 thousand broadband users means that Free added at least 100 thousand subscribers that are capable of accessing its IPTV services, giving it a total of 2.1 million IPTV capable subscribers.
Free provides the capability to receive basic IPTV services to nearly all of its unbundled subscribers; however, not all of them use the service. Consequently, the term "IPTV capable" is used here.
The addition of 141 thousand broadband users means that Free added at least 100 thousand subscribers that are capable of accessing its IPTV services, giving it a total of 2.1 million IPTV capable subscribers.
Free provides the capability to receive basic IPTV services to nearly all of its unbundled subscribers; however, not all of them use the service. Consequently, the term "IPTV capable" is used here.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Free's to Introduce FTTH this Month
Free stated that it will introduce its FTTH service in Paris this month (September 2007). It stated that the regulatory environment in France has helped by providing access to France Telecom and cable company ducts and to provide for deployment sharing.
Free has also structured the financial approach to its FTTH deployment to improve its economics through 12 year leasing arrangements for real estate. It has also signed turnkey contracts for areas outside of Paris where payment is made at delivery.
Free has committed to a point-to-point Ethernet architecture rather than PON because:
Free has committed 100 million euros to this project. It has confirmed that it deploy in Paris for 1,500 euros per existing subscriber. It expects that the revenues gained from converting these existing subscribers will cover the cost of this FTTH deployment.
The post in this blog from last week titled "Free will support two HDTV's on Fiber" explains what Free will offer to its fiber customer for 29.99 euros per month.
Free will also offer wholesale access to its fiber plant. It will support both point-to-point Ethernet and GPON architectures and the features of this wholesale service will be released by the French regulator, ARCEP. Free will charge a wholesale price of 15 euros per month per access for this wholesale service.
Free has an aggressive plan, but then it has established itself on similarly aggressive plans. It looks like this strategy will mean that it will set the pace in France for fiber broadband as it has set the pace for ADSL broadband.
The one thing I do not understand is the economics. 100 million euros does not seem like enough. It seems that 100 million euros for 330 thousand homes in Paris means about 300 euros per home passed. Even assuming economies for Ethernet vs. PON, it does not seem to be enough.
Free has also structured the financial approach to its FTTH deployment to improve its economics through 12 year leasing arrangements for real estate. It has also signed turnkey contracts for areas outside of Paris where payment is made at delivery.
Free has committed to a point-to-point Ethernet architecture rather than PON because:
- It provides a full gigabit of bandwidth available to each home.
- It is a better fit to a competitive carrier without a legacy network
- CapEx is required only when installing a new paying subscriber rather than to provide the ability for people to subscribe
- It fits an unbundled environment where unbundling creates security issues with a PON infrastructure
- 19th 28,000 homes passed
- 20th 28,000 homes passed
- 15th 61,000 homes passed
- 5th 24,500 homes passed
- 1st 22,000 homes passed
Free has committed 100 million euros to this project. It has confirmed that it deploy in Paris for 1,500 euros per existing subscriber. It expects that the revenues gained from converting these existing subscribers will cover the cost of this FTTH deployment.
The post in this blog from last week titled "Free will support two HDTV's on Fiber" explains what Free will offer to its fiber customer for 29.99 euros per month.
Free will also offer wholesale access to its fiber plant. It will support both point-to-point Ethernet and GPON architectures and the features of this wholesale service will be released by the French regulator, ARCEP. Free will charge a wholesale price of 15 euros per month per access for this wholesale service.
Free has an aggressive plan, but then it has established itself on similarly aggressive plans. It looks like this strategy will mean that it will set the pace in France for fiber broadband as it has set the pace for ADSL broadband.
The one thing I do not understand is the economics. 100 million euros does not seem like enough. It seems that 100 million euros for 330 thousand homes in Paris means about 300 euros per home passed. Even assuming economies for Ethernet vs. PON, it does not seem to be enough.
Free has 2M TelcoTV Subscribers
Free announced that it had 2.06 million unbundled broadband subscribers at the end of 1H07, which means that it has about 2 million TelcoTV subscribers. Its total broadband base grew by 128 thousand to 2.63 million in 2Q07. This compares to an increase of 220 thousand in 1Q07. Free attributes this decline in net adds in 2H07 due to a general decline in adds across all service provider. However, while France Telecom also experienced a somewhat smaller rate of decline, the other competitive broadband carriers saw some increase.
Free's percentage of unbundled lines grew to 78.4 percent at the end on 1H07 compared to 75.9 percent at the end of 2006. Its average customer spending grew from 34.5 euros at the end of 2006 to 35.0 euros at the end of 1H07.
Free's objective is to have 4 million broadband subscribers by 2010 with 85 percent unbundled.
Free's basic broadband service at 29.99 euros per month includes 144 broadcast channels. It offers another 113 premium channels for additional fees. Free also offers video on demand content for .99 euros per view as well as a subscription video on demand service for 5.99 euros per month that provides unlimited access to 50 films and 100 TV series episodes, which are renewed each week.
Free is continuing to do well. It did experience more of a decline in growth than its competitors in 2H07; however it is likely that it will bounce back.
Free's percentage of unbundled lines grew to 78.4 percent at the end on 1H07 compared to 75.9 percent at the end of 2006. Its average customer spending grew from 34.5 euros at the end of 2006 to 35.0 euros at the end of 1H07.
Free's objective is to have 4 million broadband subscribers by 2010 with 85 percent unbundled.
Free's basic broadband service at 29.99 euros per month includes 144 broadcast channels. It offers another 113 premium channels for additional fees. Free also offers video on demand content for .99 euros per view as well as a subscription video on demand service for 5.99 euros per month that provides unlimited access to 50 films and 100 TV series episodes, which are renewed each week.
Free is continuing to do well. It did experience more of a decline in growth than its competitors in 2H07; however it is likely that it will bounce back.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Free Will Support Two HDTVs on Fiber
Free announced its FTTH package that includes two Freeboxes and supports two HDTVs, still for €29.99 per month. Its fiber package will include:
- Internet access at a speed of 100 Mbp/s download, 50 Mbp/s upload
- Free access to a landline
- Unlimited calls to fixed lines in 49 destinations including mainland France
- A range of TVservices including access to more than 100 channels and to High Definition (HD) channels on two televisions
- Provision of 2 Freebox units for these TV services :
o High Definition compatible Optical Freebox including router and WiFi functions, with 4 Ethernet ports,
o High Definition compatible Freebox HD connected to the Optical Freebox via Ethernet or WiFi to provide access to the audiovisual services on a second television, including a digital video recorder.
Free will carry out installation within one month of the validation of the subscribers request where it is offered.
Free's strategy has been to maintain its price of €29.99 per month for its basic broadband service. It has consistently increased the capability of that package. Thus Free is ratcheting up the competitive environment again and is continuing to set the pace in the broadband market in France.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Free's Numbers Decoded
I have been in touch with Free. They said that its subscriber must be on an unbundled loop in order to get the Free TV service on the TV. What they are providing to all 2.6 million of its subscribers is the ability to watch TV on their PC. Free had 2.1 million unbundled subscribers at the end of 2Q07.
Interpreting Free's numbers has always been a challenge. The number of its IPTV capable subscribers is a shade under the number of unbundled loops, probably around 1.9 million currently. It has not announced the number of subscribers taking paying services, but I expect it is about half a million now.
The 1.9 million number is the number of subscribers capable of watching its TV service. It has never announced the number of subscribers that actually do so. Many other analysts report only Free's paying subscribers. I have always reported the number of TV capable subscribers. The other broadband companies in France plus companies such as Telia Sonera in Sweden and PCCW in Hong Kong also include a basic set of TV channels in their broadband services. The difference is that they do not provide a set-top box unless the subscriber requests it. The Freebox with its IPTV support is provided to every one of Free's broadband subscribers.
Interpreting Free's numbers has always been a challenge. The number of its IPTV capable subscribers is a shade under the number of unbundled loops, probably around 1.9 million currently. It has not announced the number of subscribers taking paying services, but I expect it is about half a million now.
The 1.9 million number is the number of subscribers capable of watching its TV service. It has never announced the number of subscribers that actually do so. Many other analysts report only Free's paying subscribers. I have always reported the number of TV capable subscribers. The other broadband companies in France plus companies such as Telia Sonera in Sweden and PCCW in Hong Kong also include a basic set of TV channels in their broadband services. The difference is that they do not provide a set-top box unless the subscriber requests it. The Freebox with its IPTV support is provided to every one of Free's broadband subscribers.
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