Daily LifeFrench Cell Phone Providers

The big three cell phone providers in France are Orange, SFR and Bouygues. There are of course other smaller providers but the three above are ones most people in France use.

Each provider has any number of ‘forfaits’ or monthly calling plans. Prices generally range from 15 euros on up. But figure for an hour forfait to pay 25 – 30 euros a month. That’s about what I have been paying monthly over the last three years.

You can also get pay as you go (sans abonnement) if you like but in my experience unless you make just a few calls a month, its best of go with a monthly calling plan.

In France, generally it’s a package deal: cell phone plus provider. For example I bought my phone for 1 euro and at the same time I contracted with SFR for two years.

You can after two years or what ever the length of contract can change providers. It is even now possible to keep you phone number should you change from one provider to another.

Like with anything it’s best to shop around and ask others what plan and company they are using. Note that it can be quite difficult to understand the calling plan as they – the calling plans seem to be unlimited. It’s always good to try and read the fine print even if it is in French!

I personally use SFR and my wife uses Orange. Both seem to be about the same in terms of quality. I’ve heard that Orange is the only company in France that truly has nationwide coverage. This could be true as my apartment seems to have a dead spot that affects my SFR phone more than my wife’s Orange phone.