Iliad said its Free Mobile service took 60 percent of new mobile subscribers in France during the third quarter of the year, with 805,000 additions during the period.
 
The low-cost operator claims to have a 6.4 percent market share with 4.4 million subscribers after launching at the beginning of the year (January 10th, 2012).  
 
Parent company Iliad racked up EUR819 million in revenue – a 53 percent increase – during the third quarter, with the mobile business generating EUR238.3 million, of which EUR22.9 million was from handset sales. The company has not released income details.
 
The mobile revenue was achieved despite a 31 percent drop in the MTR charges Free Mobile was able to charge and low handset sales during the summer.
 
Iliad’s fixed landline business under the Free and Alice brands increased revenue by 8.7 percent to bring in EUR583.5 million during the same period.
 
Free Mobile launched with two ‘no-contract’ plans of EUR2 per month for 60 minutes of voice calls and EUR19.99 per month for unlimited voice, SMS, MMS and internet access.
 
The new entrant attracted 2.6 million subscribers and secured a 4 percent market share during its first 80 days of business earlier this year. With the French market only having grown by 854,000 during this period, this suggested many customers had initially defected from established operators France Telecom-Orange, SFR and Bouygues Telecom.