© Unsplash/Nicolas Hoizey/Lemon squeezer
Nothing is going well with the Société Française de Radiotelephonie, commonly known as SFR. Indeed, the one which is historically the second (of the four) French national telephone operators, continues to lose subscribers, who seem more than ever to find refuge with ever fiercer competition .
Red card for SFR
Indeed, at the end of last March, SFR announced 19.96 million subscribers to its various mobile plans, the operator then being forced to fall below the 20 million subscriber mark, with nearly 500,000 departures compared to the previous quarter. Worse still, according to 01Net, this corresponds to 700,000 fewer subscribers compared to the first quarter of 2023.
© Presse-citron
Already last April, SFR won the unenvious title of “worst operator” in France, evaluated by Arcep based on customer satisfaction rates. Remember that in an attempt to replenish a debt which amounted to more than 24 billion euros at the end of last year, the group decided to sell part of its activities.
Obviously, this does not prevent SFR from continuing to present itself as the second national operator (behind Orange and its 24 million followers) but it is to admit that the label “Carré Rouge” has lost its luster greatly over the years.
What's the problem ?
It must be said that the operator (but it is not the only one) has built up a very bad reputation in recent years. Not necessarily for the quality of its network, but rather for its sometimes questionable commercial practices, with the reputation of being too greedy on the one hand, but also for prices which increase (more or less) discreetly , including its “low cost” RED by SFR.
© RED by SFR
The group's revenues also fell by 3, 8% compared to last year, with 2.5 billion euros for the first quarter of 2024. On the other hand, if SFR loses a few feathers on the mobile market, its fiber web offer continues to progress, with 4.5 million customers, or a little more than 330,000 customers compared to last year.
Overall, however, SFR's fixed web market shows a slight decline, by just over 220,000 customers, with 6.53 million connected customers. Recently, a couple from Carentan-les-Marais, in Manche, were forced to do without the SFR Internet network for several months. It remains to be seen whether (and how) this historic French operator will succeed in redressing the situation on its land.
And you, are you a (former) SFR subscriber ?
📍 To not miss any news from Presse-citron, follow us on Google News and WhatsApp.
[ ]