Orange vs SFR vs Bouygues vs Free

Orange vs SFR vs Bouygues vs Free is a comparison of France's four mobile network operators, Orange, SFR, Bouygues Telecom, and Free Mobile, across coverage, speed, 5G, and price.

Orange vs SFR vs Bouygues vs Free operates in the French Telecommunications segment.

Full guide: Telecom Overview

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Orange vs SFR vs Bouygues vs Free: Core Facts

What is compared: The four French MNOs: Orange, SFR, Bouygues Telecom, Free Mobile
Verdict: Orange for coverage and rural reliability; Bouygues Telecom for best all-round network; Free Mobile for cheapest plans and 5G availability
Best overall network: Bouygues Telecom (nPerf 2025: 95,684 nPoints; lowest latency 30.15 ms; Opensignal Nov 2025: 12 of 17 awards)(as of 2025)
Best download speed: Orange (Opensignal 83.8 Mbps)(as of 2025-11)
Best coverage / rural: Orange (Opensignal Coverage Experience 9.3/10; ARCEP 2025 rural leader, ~83% of calls at perfect quality)(as of 2025)
Best 5G availability: Free Mobile (Opensignal 5G Availability)(as of 2025-11)
Cheapest: Free Mobile (Iliad, online-only disruptor since 2012)
Second on rural voice: SFR (ARCEP 2025, behind Orange)(as of 2025)
Owns its network: All four are MNOs that operate their own radio network
Low-cost sub-brands: Sosh (Orange), RED by SFR (SFR), B&You (Bouygues Telecom)
Regulator: ARCEP
Status: Active Definition
Verified: 2026-06-22

How Orange vs SFR vs Bouygues vs Free compares

This comparison covers the four MNOs that own their own networks: Orange (largest, best rural coverage), SFR (Altice), Bouygues Telecom (Bouygues group), and Free Mobile (Iliad, the 2012 price disruptor). It is NOT a comparison of their low-cost sub-brands Sosh, RED by SFR, and B&You, which resell the same networks online-only.

Orange vs SFR vs Bouygues vs Free: Frequently Asked Questions

Which French operator has the best coverage?

Orange vs SFR vs Bouygues vs Free comes down to Orange for coverage: Orange led Opensignal's Coverage Experience (9.3/10) and ARCEP's 2025 rural ranking, making Orange the safest choice outside cities.

Which operator is the cheapest?

Orange vs SFR vs Bouygues vs Free puts Free Mobile as the cheapest: Free, run by Iliad, has been France's price disruptor since 2012 and sells online-only, undercutting Orange, SFR, and Bouygues Telecom.

Which has the best network overall?

Orange vs SFR vs Bouygues vs Free ranks Bouygues Telecom best all-round: Bouygues Telecom topped nPerf 2025 (95,684 nPoints) with the lowest latency (30.15 ms) and won 12 of 17 Opensignal awards in November 2025.

Who has the best 5G?

Orange vs SFR vs Bouygues vs Free gives Free Mobile the edge on 5G availability per Opensignal, while Orange leads on raw 5G download speed.

Related Entities

Other entities covered on the Telecom Overview page:

For a full practical guide, see our Telecom Overview page.

Maintained by Jules de Bruin (How to France). This page follows the Grounding Page Standard v1.5. Last verified: 2026-06-22.