The Iliad Group has announced the creation of a joint venture with the Digicel Group, marking a significant step in strengthening telecom infrastructure across the French overseas territories.

The new entity will own and manage the mobile network infrastructure, including both passive and active equipment, across the French West Indies and French Guiana. This covers key markets such as Martinique, Guadeloupe, Saint-Martin, Saint-Barthélemy, and French Guiana, regions where connectivity quality has historically lagged behind mainland standards.

Importantly, this is not a merger of operations. Both Iliad and Digicel will retain full control over their respective core networks, spectrum licenses, and commercial strategies. From a user perspective, the two brands will continue to operate independently, competing in the market while sharing the underlying infrastructure.

What changes is the scale and efficiency of investment.

By pooling resources into a shared infrastructure company, both groups aim to accelerate network deployment, increase the number of mobile sites, and significantly improve coverage and data speeds across the region. The ambition is clear: to build one of the most robust and extensive telecom infrastructure networks in the French West Indies.

This kind of infrastructure-sharing model is not new globally, but its application in these territories is particularly relevant. The geography is complex, population density varies widely, and the cost of deploying standalone networks is high. A joint approach allows both operators to move faster while maintaining competitive differentiation at the service level.

About the iliad Group iliad french west indies

Founded in 1999, Iliad has evolved into one of Europe’s most disruptive telecom players. As the parent company behind the Free brand, it reshaped the market with straightforward pricing and innovation, including the introduction of the Freebox and aggressive mobile pricing strategies.

In just two decades, the group has grown into a major operator in both France and Italy, employing around 11,000 people and generating over €5 billion in annual revenue. As of early 2020, Iliad served nearly 20 million subscribers in France, split between fixed and mobile services, alongside more than 5.8 million users in Italy, where it entered the market in 2018 as the fourth mobile operator.

Listed on Euronext Paris, Iliad continues to position itself as a challenger brand, combining infrastructure investment with a strong focus on pricing transparency and user-centric offers.