France
Opensignal is the independent global standard for analyzing consumers' connectivity experiences. Our industry reports are the definitive guide to understanding what happens when people use their mobile and broadband connections in their daily life.
France
Opensignal is the independent global standard for analyzing consumers' connectivity experiences. Our industry reports are the definitive guide to understanding what happens when people use their mobile and broadband connections in their daily life.
Key Findings
Orange users enjoy the top Video, Games and Voice App Experience in France
Our Orange users observe the best quality of experience while streaming videos, playing multiplayer mobile games and using over-the-top (OTT) voice services on mobile voice apps in France. Orange is also the outright winner of the 5G Video Experience award. However, it shares the top spot alongside Bouygues for 5G Games Experience. Furthermore, both the operators tie with SFR for the 5G Voice App Experience award.
Orange has the most consistent experience in France
Orange wins the Excellent Consistent Quality award with a score of 87.4%. The operator also wins the Core Consistent Quality award with a score of 94%. However, Orange's lead over second-placed Bouygues has slightly dipped across both categories.
Free Mobile leads in 5G Availability
Free Mobile wins the5G Availability award. Our Free Mobile 5G users spent a notably higher proportion of the time with an active 5G connection, 28.6%, than those on its rivals, as their scores for 5G Availability are in the 16.3-19.3% range.
Orange users observe the fastest overall and 5G speeds
Once again, our Orange users clocked the fastest mobile speeds in France. By virtue of this, Orange remains the outright winner of Opensignal's overall and 5G speed awards — the same as in the previous report. Orange users have also seen significant improvements across all four categories. However, Orange's competitors are nibbling away at its lead — as it wins by a smaller margin in three of these categories than it did last time.
Mobile Experience Awards
Market Overview
A quick glance at Opensignal's latest results makes it very evident that Orange remains the operator to beat in France. Orange wins 10 out of 14 awards outright, retaining the top spot in all the award categories from last time, with users observing the fastest overall and 5G download and upload speeds, as well as enjoying the best available overall quality of experience while streaming videos, playing mobile multiplayer games, or using over-the-top voice app services. Additionally, our users in France continue to observe the most consistent mobile network experience when connected to Orange.
While little has changed in terms of the national awards table, the mobile network experience in France is improving due in part to growing 5G adoption and operators’ 5G rollouts. Since the previous report in November 2022, our users across all four networks have observed notable improvements across different aspects of mobile network experience.
For example, it's noteworthy that our Bouygues users reported the greatest percentage improvement in overall Download Speed Experience (42.9%) and Upload Speed Experience (40%). In addition, Bouygues users have also reported the biggest surge in average 5G download and 5G upload speeds. At the same time, our Free Mobile users have seen the largest increases in 5G Availability, and both consistency measures — Excellent Consistent Quality and Core Consistent Quality.
In the first analysis to use Opensignal’s new Coverage Experience methodology, Orange comes top for overall Coverage Experience with a score of nine points on a 10-point scale. Free Mobile places first for 5G Coverage Experience with 3.4 points, followed by Bouygues with 2.8 points. Opensignal’s new Coverage Experience metric represents the real-world experience users receive as they travel around areas where they would reasonably expect to find coverage.
In this report we examine the mobile network experience of the four main mobile network operators in France — Bouygues, Free Mobile, Orange, and SFR — over the 90 day period starting on February 1, 2023, and ending on May 1, 2023, to see how they fared.
Overall Experience
National Analysis
Once again, our users had the best mobile gaming experience on Orange's network. Orange remains the sole winner of the Video Experience award, scoring 70.4 points on a 100-point scale. The operator commands a lead of 2.3 points over second-placed Bouygues and 3.1 points over third-placed SFR. On the other hand, Free Mobile brings up the rear in Video Experience with 65.9 points. With these scores, the overall quality of experience while streaming mobile videos in France rates Very Good (68-78) on Orange and Bouygues and Good (58-68) on Free Mobile and SFR.
Definitions
Opensignal’s Video Experience quantifies the quality of video streamed to mobile devices by measuring real-world video streams over an operator's networks. The metric is based on an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approach, built upon detailed studies which have derived a relationship between technical parameters, including picture quality, video loading time and stall rate, with the perceived video experience as reported by real people. To calculate video experience, we are directly measuring video streams from end-user devices and using this ITU approach to quantify the overall video experience for each operator on a scale from 0 to 100. The videos tested include a mixture of resolutions — including Full HD (FHD) and 4K / Ultra HD (UHD) — and are streamed directly from the world’s largest video content providers.
In addition to Video Experience, we report on the following metrics related to video experience:
- 5G Video Experience: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users when they were connected to an operator’s 5G network.
- Video Experience – 5G Users: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator's networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G video experience along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Video Experience: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 4G network.
- 3G Video Experience: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users on an operator’s 3G network.
National Analysis
Our users on Orange enjoy the best experience in France when playing multiplayer mobile games over cellular connections. Orange wins the Games Experience award with a score of 74.3 points on a 100-point scale, giving it a lead ranging from 2.7 points over second-placed Bouygues to 7.1 points over last-placed Free Mobile. With these scores, all four operators place in the Fair (65-75) category for overall Games Experiencer.
Definitions
Opensignal’s Games Experience measures how mobile users experience real-time multiplayer mobile gaming on an operator’s network. Measured on a scale of 0-100, it analyzes how our users’ multiplayer mobile gaming experience is affected by mobile network conditions including latency, packet loss and jitter.
Games Experience quantifies the experience when playing real-time multiplayer mobile games on mobile devices connected to servers located around the world. The approach is built on several years of research quantifying the relationship between technical network parameters and the gaming experience as reported by real mobile users. These parameters include latency (round trip time), jitter (variability of latency) and packet loss (the proportion of data packets that never reach their destination). Additionally, it considers multiple genres of multiplayer mobile games to measure the average sensitivity to network conditions. The games tested include some of the most popular real-time multiplayer mobile games (such as Fortnite, Pro Evolution Soccer and Arena of Valor) played around the world.
Calculating Games Experience starts with measuring the end-to-end experience from users’ devices to internet end-points that host real games. The score is then measured on a scale from 0 to 100.
In addition to Games Experience, we report on the following metrics related to games experience:
- 5G Games Experience: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users when they were connected to an operator’s 5G network.
- Games Experience – 5G Users: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator's networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G games experience along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Games Experience: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 4G network.
- 3G Games Experience: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO) network.
National Analysis
Orange is the outright winner of the Voice App Experience award, scoring 78.3 points on a 100-point scale. However, its lead is relatively narrow, given Bouygues and SFR statistically tie for second place with scores in the 77.7-77.9 point range, ahead of Free Mobile (76.4 points). All four operators place in the Acceptable category (74-80) for Voice App Experience.
Definitions
Opensignal's Voice App Experience measures the quality of experience for over-the-top (OTT) voice services — mobile voice apps such as WhatsApp, Skype and Facebook Messenger — using a model derived from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approach for quantifying overall voice call quality and a series of calibrated technical parameters. This model characterizes the exact relationship between the technical measurements and perceived call quality. Voice App Experience for each operator is calculated on a scale from 0 to 100.
In addition to Voice App Experience, we report on the following metrics related to voice app experience:
- 5G Voice App Experience: The average Voice App Experience of Opensignal users when they were connected to an operator’s 5G network.
- Voice App Experience – 5G Users: The average Voice App Experience of Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator's networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G voice app experience along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Voice App Experience: The average Voice App Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 4G network.
- 3G Voice App Experience: The average Voice App Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO) network.
National Analysis
Orange users experience the fastest overall download speeds in France, 67.5Mbps on average — about 17Mbps faster than Bouygues and SFR, which statistically tie for second place with scores just above 50Mbps. On the other hand, Free Mobile users report the lowest Download Speed Experience of 43.8Mbps.
Since the the last report, our users across all four networks have seen their overall average download speeds significantly improve. Our Bouygues users recorded the largest increase in percentage terms — a rise of 42.9% — while those on SFR and Orange saw their speeds improve by 37.8% and 31.3%, respectively. Meanwhile, users on Free Mobile reported an upswing of 19.1% since the last report.
Definitions
Measured in Mbps, Download Speed Experience represents the typical everyday speeds a user experiences across an operator’s mobile data networks.
In addition to Download Speed Experience, we report on the following metrics related to download speeds:
- 5G Download Speed: The average download speed observed by Opensignal users with active 5G connections.
- Download Speed Experience – 5G Users: The average download speeds experienced by Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator’s networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G download speeds along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Download Speed: The average downlink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 4G.
- 3G Download Speed: The average downlink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO).
National Analysis
Our users across every major operator in France have observed improvement in their average upload speeds since the the last report. Bouygues users saw the greatest increase of 40% in their Upload Speed Experience, followed by those on SFR (30.5%). Meanwhile, Free Mobile and Orange's scores improved by 29.3% and 23.8%, respectively.
As a result, Orange remains the outright winner of Upload Speed Experience. However, second-placed Bouygues has gnawed away at Orange’s lead, cutting it from 1.4Mbps to 0.5Mbps.
Definitions
Upload Speed Experience measures the average upload speeds for each operator observed by our users across their mobile data networks. Typically upload speeds are slower than download speeds, as current mobile broadband technologies focus resources on providing the best possible download speed for users consuming content on their devices. As mobile internet trends move away from downloading content to creating content and supporting real-time communications services, upload speeds are becoming more vital and new technologies are emerging that boost upstream capacity.
In addition to Upload Speed Experience, we report on five supporting metrics related to upload speeds:
- 5G Upload Speed: The average upload speed observed by Opensignal users with active 5G connections.
- Upload Speed Experience – 5G Users: The average upload speeds experienced by Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator’s networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G upload speeds along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Upload Speed: The average uplink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 4G.
- 3G Upload Speed: The average uplink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO).
5G Experience
National Analysis
Our Orange users have the best experience streaming video over 5G networks, making the operator the 5G Video Experience award winner. Orange wins with a score of 76.9 points on a 100-point scale, slightly ahead of Bouygues’ 76.1 points. Meanwhile, SFR and Free Mobile follow behind with 75.7 and 74.5 points, respectively. All four mobile operators achieve a Very Good (68-78) rating for 5G Video Experience, which means our users in France on their networks, on average, are able to stream video at 1080p or better with satisfactory loading times and little stalling when connected to 5G.
Definitions
5G Video Experience quantifies the quality of mobile video experienced by Opensignal users on real-world video streams when they were connected to 5G. The metric is based on an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approach, built upon detailed studies which have derived a relationship between technical parameters, including picture quality, video loading time and stall rate, with the perceived video experience as reported by real people. To calculate 5G Video Experience, we are directly measuring video streams from end-user devices and using this ITU approach to quantify the video experience observed by our users on each operator’s 5G network on a scale from 0 to 100. The videos tested include a mixture of resolutions — including Full HD (FHD) and 4K / Ultra HD (UHD) — and are streamed directly from the world’s largest video content providers.
National Analysis
Bouygues and Orange are joint winners of the 5G Games Experience award with statistically tied scores of 79.9-80.5 points (on a 100-point scale) — around 2.4 points ahead of SFR. While these three operators' scores achieved a Good (75-85) rating, Free Mobile is the only operator to place in the Fair (65-75) rating category with a score of 74.2 points.These results mean Bouygues and Orange users enjoy the best available 5G experience when playing multiplayer mobile games such as battle royale games like COD mobile or Garena FreeFire and MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) titles like Arena of Valor.
Definitions
5G Games Experience measures how mobile users experience real-time multiplayer mobile gaming on an operator's 5G network. It analyzes how our users’ multiplayer mobile gaming experience was affected by mobile network conditions including latency, packet loss and jitter. 5G Games Experience for each operator is calculated on a scale from 0 to 100.
5G Games Experience quantifies the experience when playing real-time multiplayer mobile games on mobile devices connected to servers located around the world. The approach is built on several years of research quantifying the relationship between technical network parameters and the gaming experience as reported by real mobile users. These parameters include latency (round trip time), jitter (variability of latency) and packet loss (the proportion of data packets that never reach their destination). Additionally, it considers multiple genres of multiplayer mobile games to measure the average sensitivity to network conditions. The games tested include some of the most popular real-time multiplayer mobile games (such as Fortnite, Pro Evolution Soccer and Arena of Valor) played around the world. Calculating 5G Games Experience starts with measuring the end-to-end experience from users’ devices to internet end-points that host real games.
National Analysis
We saw a tight competition for 5G Voice App Experience, with just half a point separating all four operators' scores. In addition, three operators share the 5G Voice App Experience award: Bouygues, SFR and Orange, with statistically tied scores of 81.2-81.4 points on a 100-point scale.
All four operators place in the Good (80-87) category for 5G Voice App Experience — the quality of experience with 5G while using over-the-top (OTT) voice services over mobile voice apps such as WhatsApp, Skype and Facebook Messenger. A Good 5G Voice App Experience means many users are satisfied. But some users experience minor quality impairments. Sometimes the background is not quite clear, it can be either hazy or not loud enough. Clicking sounds or distortion are very rarely present.
Definitions
5G Voice App Experience quantifies the experience of Opensignal users when using over-the-top voice apps — such as WhatsApp, Skype and Facebook Messenger — on an operator’s 5G network. It uses a model derived from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approach for quantifying overall voice call quality and a series of calibrated technical parameters. This model characterizes the exact relationship between the technical measurements and perceived call quality. 5G Voice App Experience for each operator is calculated on a scale from 0 to 100.
National Analysis
Orange wins the 5G Download Speed award by a considerable margin, scoring 344.8Mbps — notably 95Mbps (38%) faster than second-placed SFR with 249.8Mbps, 139.4Mbps (67.8%) faster than third-placed Bouygues and 2.5 times faster than Free Mobile.
The 5G Download Speeds of users on all four operators in France are significantly faster than the average download speeds across all technologies — ranging from 5.1 times faster on Orange to 3.2 times faster on Free Mobile.
Definitions
5G Download Speed shows the average download speed experienced by Opensignal users across an operator’s 5G network. 5G Download Speed for each operator is calculated in Mbps (Megabits per second).
National Analysis
Our users on Orange enjoy the fastest 5G upload speeds in France, 22.8Mbps on average — 1.7Mbps (7.8%) faster than those seen by Bouygues users.
Looking at the uplift between overall and 5G upload speeds, our users on Orange and SFR saw 2.1 times faster upload speeds with 5G and 1.7-2 times faster in the case of Free Mobile and Bouygues users. While download speeds typically attract the most attention, upload speeds are becoming increasingly important to users. Sharing photos and videos on social media or large files all benefit from fast upload speeds.
Definitions
5G Upload Speed measures the average upload speeds experienced by Opensignal users across an operator’s 5G network. 5G Upload Speed for each operator is calculated in Mbps (Megabits per second).
Coverage
National Analysis
We see a tiny difference in the time users in France spend with a mobile broadband connection on each operator. Free Mobile wins a close run race for the Availability award with a spectacular score of 98.3%, beating Bouygues, Orange and SFR by around 0.1 of a percentage point. These scores mean users across all four national networks spent more than 98% time of their time, on average, connected to a 3G or better signal.
Definitions
Our availability metrics are not a measure of a network’s geographical extent. They won’t tell you whether you are likely to get a signal if you plan to visit a remote rural or nearly uninhabited region. Instead, they measure what proportion of time people have a network connection, in the places they most commonly frequent — something often missed by traditional coverage metrics. Looking at when users have a connection rather than where, provides us with a more precise reflection of the true user experience.
We also keep track of the instances that leave mobile users most frustrated: when there is no signal to connect to at all. The most common dead zones users struggle with occur indoors. As most of our availability data is collected indoors (as that’s where users spend most of their time), we’re particularly astute at detecting areas of zero signal.
Our availability metrics take a user-centric, time-based approach that complements the user-centric and geographical-based methodology used by our reach metrics.
Availability shows the proportion of time all Opensignal users on an operator’s network had either a 3G, 4G or 5G connection.
National Analysis
Having very fast average 5G download speeds is only useful when users have a 5G connection. Opensignal's 5G Availability compares the amount of time our 5G users spend with an active 5G connection — the higher the percentage, the more time users on a network spend connected to 5G.
Our users across all four networks have seen considerable increases in 5G Availability since the last report. The improvements recorded by Bouygues, Orange and SFR range from 4.3-4.8 percentage points, increasing to 9.9 percentage points for Free Mobile. Consequently, Free Mobile wins the 5G Availability award again, with our 5G users on its network now connecting to 5G on average for 28.6% of the time. On the other hand, Bouygues, Orange and SFR are far behind, with 5G Availability scores in the 16.3-19.3% range.
Definitions
Our availability metrics are not a measure of a network’s geographical extent. They won’t tell you whether you are likely to get a signal if you plan to visit a remote rural or nearly uninhabited region. Instead, they measure what proportion of time people have a network connection, in the places they most commonly frequent — something often missed by traditional coverage metrics. Looking at when users have a connection rather than where, provides us with a more precise reflection of the true user experience.
We also keep track of the instances that leave mobile users most frustrated: when there is no signal to connect to at all. The most common dead zones users struggle with occur indoors. As most of our availability data is collected indoors (as that’s where users spend most of their time), we’re particularly astute at detecting areas of zero signal.
Our availability metrics take a user-centric, time-based approach that complements the user-centric and geographical-based methodology used by our reach metrics.
5G Availability shows the proportion of time Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription had an active 5G connection.
Consistency
National Analysis
Orange wins Excellent Consistent Quality outright for the third time in Opensignal reports. It meets the minimum recommended performance thresholds for demanding common applications in 87.4% of users' tests — 1.9 percentage points higher than in the previous report. At the same time, second-placed Bouygues' score also grew by 3.1 percentage points to 84.4%, but Free Mobile's score shows the most significant growth of 3.7 points. As a result, Orange's lead over Bouygues has declined from 4.2 to 3 percentage points since the previous report
Definitions
Consistent Quality measures how often users’ experience on a network was sufficient to support common applications’ requirements. It measures download speed, upload speed, latency, jitter, packet loss, time to first byte and the percentage of tests attempted which did not succeed due to a connectivity issue on either the download or server response component.
Full details on how the Consistent Quality metrics — Excellent Consistent Quality and Core Consistent Quality — are calculated can be found here.
Excellent Consistent Quality is the percentage of users’ tests that met the minimum recommended performance thresholds to watch HD video, complete group video conference calls and play games.
National Analysis
Orange holds onto the Core Consistent Quality award, winning it outright with a score of 94% — 1.2 percentage points higher than Bouygues. This means Orange meets the minimum recommended performance thresholds for lower-performance applications in 94% of our users’ tests.
Definitions
Consistent Quality measures how often users’ experience on a network was sufficient to support common applications’ requirements. It measures download speed, upload speed, latency, jitter, packet loss, time to first byte and the percentage of tests attempted which did not succeed due to a connectivity issue on either the download or server response component.
Full details on how the Consistent Quality metrics — Excellent Consistent Quality and Core Consistent Quality — are calculated can be found here.
Core Consistent Quality is the percentage of users’ tests that met the minimum recommended performance thresholds for lower performance applications including SD video, voice calls and web browsing.
Related Analysis
Our Methodology
Collecting billions of individual measurements daily from over 100 million devices globally, Opensignal independently analyzes mobile and broadband user experience on every major network operator around the globe.
About Opensignal
Opensignal is the leading global provider of independent insights into consumers' connectivity experiences and choice of carrier. Our proprietary insights into mobile and broadband networks give operators the solutions they need to profitably compete and win, from executive level scorecards and public validation to pin-point level engineering analytics and consumer decision dynamics.
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Confidence Intervals
For every metric we calculate statistical confidence intervals indicated on our graphs. When confidence intervals overlap, our measured results are too close to declare a winner. In those cases, we show a statistical draw. For this reason, some metrics have multiple operator winners.
In our bar graphs we represent confidence intervals as boundaries on either sides of graph bars.
In our supporting-metric charts we show confidence intervals as +/- numerical values.
Why confidence intervals are vital in analyzing mobile network experience