Free (ISP)

Free S.A.S.
Company typeS.A.S.
IndustryTelecommunications
Founded26 April 1999; 25 years ago (1999-04-26)
FounderXavier Niel
Headquarters
Paris
,
France
Area served
France
Key people
  • Xavier Niel
  • Maxime Lombardini
  • Rani Assaf
  • Antoine Levavasseur
  • Thomas Reynaud
ProductsFreebox, Freebox TV
ServicesFixed-line Internet services, IP television, fixed-line and mobile telephony, quadruple play, network services
OwnerIliad (100%)
Number of employees
5665
ParentIliad
SubsidiariesFree Mobile (100%)
Free Infrastructure (100%)
Websitewww.free.fr

Free S.A.S. is a French telecommunications company, subsidiary of Iliad S.A. that provides voice, video, data, and Internet telecommunications to consumers in France. Its head office is in the 8th arrondissement of Paris and it is the second-largest ISP in France.

Free provides ISP services in France[1][2] and in the 30 OECD countries.[3] It was the first company to offer a "triple play" service in France[4][5][6] through its self-produced singular Freebox set-top box, claiming to have invented the box marketing concept in France in reference to all the other French ISPs who thereafter released "triple play" modems named to include the anglicism box as a suffix. These boxes provide comprehensive telecommunication services such as high-speed Internet, telephone and digital television packages, leading Free to become the world's number one IPTV provider[7] offering almost systematically IPTV to subscribers and optimizing it to be available on most landlines.[8][9]

Developing its own 3G and 4G networks, Free Mobile was launched in 2012 and became the fourth mobile network operator in France.

  1. ^ "Vive la High-Speed Internet". 18 July 2007. Archived from the original on 3 December 2007. Retrieved 12 March 2009.
  2. ^ "In Europe, VoIP Grows & Grows". 6 March 2009. Retrieved 17 February 2008.
  3. ^ "Multiple Play: Pricing and Policy Trends" (PDF) (Press release). OECD. 25 April 2006. Retrieved 12 March 2009.
  4. ^ "Free launches unlimited broadband Internet at dial-up prices" (PDF) (Press release) (in French). Iliad. 19 September 2002. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 October 2007. Retrieved 16 March 2008.
  5. ^ "Free introduces free telephone calls" (PDF) (Press release) (in French). Iliad. 31 July 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 October 2007. Retrieved 16 March 2008.
  6. ^ "Free launches digital television" (PDF) (Press release) (in French). Iliad. 27 November 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 October 2007. Retrieved 16 March 2008.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference fierceiptv-top-european-iptv was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ "The Telecom Exploits of Iliad". 5 December 2005. Archived from the original on 30 April 2006. Retrieved 30 November 2008.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference gigaom2007-12-21 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).