Growth was particularly remarkable from mobile networks (+ 24% in one year on average in the first half of 2020). In the third quarter, it remained high (+ 8%), and even higher than those observed over the previous five years (between + 2% and + 5% on average). As in the two previous quarters, the increase relates to communications to national mobile networks (+ 11% in one year), but also to communications to fixed networks (+ 8%) . On the other hand, the volume of voice communications to international destinations remains down (-15% in one year) and that of customers of French operators in roaming out continues to decrease significantly (-25% in one year) due to limited travel abroad. In total, the average monthly consumption of mobile voice communications by plan holders reached 3:42 per month this quarter. It has increased by 12 minutes in one year, i.e. a lower growth rate than the first and second quarters of 2020 (+45 minutes and +1 hour respectively), but higher than that of 2019 (+3 minutes).

From the fixed networks, a subscriber calls on average 1h40 per month approximately in the third quarter of 2020, regardless of the network ( PSTN or VLB). The effect of the spring containment had been more significant on the consumption of subscribers using voice services in voice on broadband:  while for four years, this has declined by 20 to 30 minutes per year per subscriber, the second quarter 2020 recorded a growth of 30 minutes. In the third quarter, the consumption of voice services in broadband voice continued to increase but increased slightly (+2 minutes in one year). In total,the volume of voice communications from fixed networks (11.1 billion, PSTN and VLB combined) increased for the third consecutive quarter (+ 0.4% in one year this quarter) after seven years of continuous decline of up to -15% in 2019. france telecom services

For other uses, the trend remains the same as last quarter. Data consumption on mobile networks continues to grow at a high rate but has lost 10 growth points compared to the third quarter of 2019 (+ 27% in one year). 4G network users, which account for 96% of total data traffic on mobile networks, consume, on average, 10.5 GB per month (+ 17% in one year this quarter,or half less than a year ago) . From abroad, and under the effect of limited travel, data traffic decreased for the second consecutive quarter (-30% in one year this quarter), whereas it was in constant and high growth since 2017 (+44 % in 2019). france telecom

Finally, SMS, the use of which has been steadily declining since 2016 in favor of instant messaging mobile applications (Messenger, Viber, WhatsApp, etc.), have seen their decline increase significantly since the second quarter of 2020 (-15% in one year). year this quarter after -23% the last quarter against -7% approximately since 2017). Since the first quarter of 2020, traffic sent abroad while roaming out has decreased very significantly compared to previous years :
-62% in one year this quarter compared to -3% in the third quarter of 2019.  france telecom

The adoption of very high speed in France, fixed and mobile, is confirmed and in particular the increase in the number of subscriptions on FttH networks, which has reached an exceptional level. france telecom

During the third quarter of 2020, nearly one million consumers adopted FttH technology to access the internet, bringing the annual growth in the number of subscriptions to this technology to nearly 3 million. As a result, at the end of September 2020, 9.3 million accesses were activated on end-to-end fiber optic networks, which represents 42% of the 22.3 million premises eligible for this technology. At the same time, the number of DSL copper network subscriptions decreased at an accelerated pace this quarter with 2.2 million fewer accesses. As of September 30, 2020, out of a total of 30.3 million internet accesses, 45% are at very high speed (+9 points in one year), of which a large majority (68%, +8 points in one year) is FttH technology. The proportion of Internet access high -speed copper networks remains the majority with 53% of the total number of Internet access, but steadily declining.

On the mobile networks, the number of plans has also increased sharply, by 2 million in one year for the second consecutive quarter, a level slightly higher than in previous quarters (+1.8 to +1.9 million on an annual basis) . As for prepaid cards, like last quarter, the decline is accelerating (-13.0% this quarter against -5.3% a year earlier). In total, 77.6 million SIM cards were in service as of September 30, 2020, including 69.8 million packages. A large majority of these cards are now active on 4G networks (58.9 million, or 76% of the total number of SIM cards). The growth in the number of these cards active on 4G networks remains significant: +6.0 million cards in one year for the second consecutive quarter. france telecom services

The income of operators on the retail market stabilized after a second quarter of decline due to the closure of operators’ shops due to the health crisis

Operators’ income stabilized in the third quarter of 2020 (-0.3% in one year) after a decline of -1.8% in one year in the second quarter of 2020. Indeed, in the last quarter, operators had recorded a loss 20% year-on-year of their ancillary revenues, and in particular, those related to the sale and rental of mobile terminals, which represent a significant share of their revenues on the retail market (nearly 10%, i.e. 781 million euros excluding tax this quarter). The third quarter of 2020 returns to the trends observed before the first lockdown: income from the sale of mobile terminals and equipment fell by -1.3% in one year, i.e. a level equivalent to that of the third quarter of 2019 (-1, 1%).

In the mobile market, revenue was practically stable for the second consecutive quarter, despite the momentum observed in the sale of packages; after two-quarters of around 4% year-on-year, flat rate income recorded growth of less than 1% for the second consecutive quarter (+ 0.3% this quarter after + 0.7%). This contraction is mainly explained by the drastic drop in roaming out usage linked to limited travel due to the health crisis. The associated income, 51 million euros excluding tax this quarter, thus fell by around 70% in one year over the second and third quarters of 2020. However, the overall average monthly bill of customers with post and prepaid contracts (14 , 4 euros HT) is little impacted: -0.2 € HT in one year.

Finally, after ten years of decline, the income of fixed operators (4.1 billion euros excluding tax) has improved since the second quarter of 2020 . After a second quarter of 2020 of growth of around 1% year-on-year, it is stabilizing, despite the drop in low-bandwidth income (514 million, -11% in one year) and the drop in income from sales access to inter-site networks for businesses (553 million euros excluding tax, -3%). Revenue from the sale of broadband and ultra-high speed access has grown significantly again since the fourth quarter of 2019, from + 2% to + 3% year-on-year(+ 2.9% this quarter), and offsets the loss recorded elsewhere. This growth is having an upward impact on the average bill per high and very high-speed access for the third consecutive quarter: 32.9 euros before tax per month, +20 euro cents before tax this quarter after +50 cents and +10 cents.

france telecom services