Communication of 22 october 2024 on the benchmarking of the fixed service and convergent bundle rates on the residential market tariffs applied in q3 2024

The telecommunications market is a dynamic and constantly evolving market. Offers change rapidly and comparing them is not easy for ordinary users. To help them, the BIPT carries out a national price benchmarking each year. This study takes demand as its starting point, i.e. the needs that different types of telecoms service users have to satisfy.

After 3 years, it was necessary to review the profiles in the light of new uses and consumptions: increased use of mobile data and fixed broadband, investment by the sector in infrastructure (fibre, 5G, etc.), increased use of streaming and TV via an app, etc. These profiles have therefore been adjusted and the sector was consulted during the first half of 2024. For this tenth edition, 9 household profiles have been studied. These were designed to reflect the reality of society by taking account of a wide variety of uses, from those for whom minimising expenditure is essential to consumers with larger budgets. Furthermore, the rankings show different offer and brand categories, from starter price offers to premium offers. These needs must be met either with fixed services (fixed internet and/or television and/or fixed telephony) or with a convergent bundle, i.e. a bundle including at least one fixed service and at least one mobile phone subscription.

The telecoms solutions considered to meet the needs of each profile may include:

• A 1-play service offered as a standalone service;
• A fixed commercial or convergent bundle including several services (2-Play, 3-Play, 4-Play);
• A “tailored” solution including several services offered as standalone services by a same operator or a “mixed” solution, combining different providers, i.e. with a different operator for the fixed needs (internet, television, fixed telephony) and for the mobile needs, for example.

The average monthly cost of the plans include the cost of the plan as well as the cost of the add-ons and/or out-of-bundle costs and the activation and/or installation cost depreciated over a period of 3 years. Given their temporary nature, promotions have not been taken into account in this study.