PRICE wars between France's internet providers have produced offers as low as �9.99 a month.
Numericable's latest offer of �9.99 + VAT is for those on RSA (income support) or the allocation d'adulte handicap�. Last year the company began offering a triple package (broadband, phone, TV) at e19.90 - two-thirds of the price of rival Free.
Discount store Auchan and historic phone provider Orange (France T�l�com) have also entered the fray.
Auchan�s "low-cost" triple offer is �27.90, using Numericable�s fibre-optic cable network, with 100 TV channels and free calls to France and its overseas territories.
Orange has launched its D�couverte (discovery) offer, at �19.90 with just broadband - no television or telephone. People taking this up can keep their ordinary telephone landline (at �16 per month) and there is an option to have a livebox for digital TV channels at �3/month. Orange says this is a good opportunity for "people with modest budgets to have access to the internet."
While it is more expensive than other firms, the advantage of D�couverte is that it comes with no strings attached - you can cancel at any time - and under 26s get 10% off the basic price
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A spokesman for consumer group UFC-Que Choisir said that all this activity was a "really positive sign," as he said they had been expecting to see these kinds of offers get more expensive rather than cheaper, since France already offers cheaper rates than most other countries.
As Free looks to set up in the mobile phone market it is likely that more companies will include mobile contracts in their offers for TV, internet and phonlines.
Bouygues already does with its les-Tout-en-un Ideo package which you can customise online. SFR and Orange which also operate mobile networks are likely to follow.
How to check you're up to speed
YOUR internet speed varies with the way your computer is set up and what type of connection you have but it is always worthwhile checking that you get what you pay for.
Various broadband speed tests are available online - but these can give widely varying results and your broadband supplier will have its own tests (Orange has one called dsltest.exe which you download and then Run). Some computer magazines such as Journal du Net and zdnet.fr offer a more independent option and these are generally run from the page online.
Many internet columnists recommended Dan Elwell's Broadband Speed Test which can be found at http://broadbandspeedtest.net and this gives information on whether your services matches the claims.
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