Orange in France: Presentation, Offers and Contact in 2023

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Orange - a brief presentation

Formerly named France Télécom, Orange is the largest and oldest telecommunications supplier in France and provides a big range of phone and broadband and offers.

It was created back in 1990 as a consortium of 3 British telecom companies, at the time to compete with Vodafone UK. It was later acquired by a German company before being purchased by France Telecom in 2001. Following financial turmoil a few years later, France Telecom underwent a recovery plan and converged all of its activities to Orange, which name it took in 2013.

To date, Orange France has over 20 millions clients, making it the most subscribed-to mobile and broadband provider in the country.

The Orange Phone and Broadband Plans

Orange has a range of phone and Internet plans, which can be purchased with a contract or contract-free. Whether you're starting a new life in France, are only settling for a couple of months, or need access to the internet for your second residence, Orange can provide you with the solution.

The Orange mobile phone offers

With Orange, you can go SIM-only or opt for a long-term plan, with or without a tie-down period.

The Orange phone contracts

Orange has 6 main phone contracts, ranging from very small allowance bundles to plans with unlimited usage: the 2h 100Mo, the 2h 20Go, the 10Go, the 80Go, the 140Go, the 150Go and the 220Go.

The characteristics of the plans vary significantly from one to another, but ranges are as follows:

• The calling allowances go from 2 hours to all-you-can-eat, with some plans including free calls from abroad + towards Europe, the US, Canada and China
• The SMS allowances are always unlimited, but the more expensive plans include free texts from abroad + towards Europe, the US, Canada and China
• The data allowances go from 100MB to 220GB/month
• Access to the Orange et Moi app and Orange free Wifi hotspots
• Access to the nº1 3G/4G/5G mobile network in France
• In some cases, access to Orange TV and to 100 Go storage on the Orange cloud
• Prices go from €2.99 to €49.99/month for the first 12 months, (tariffs then increase, then ranging from €7.99 to €64.99 a month.)

Just keep in mind that these plans all come with a 12 or 24-month commitment, and quitting before the end of the set period will likely incur a hefty fee. We thus recommend signing up for a plan like this only if you're sure to be staying in France long term.

The Orange contract-free mobile offers

If you don't want the burden of being tied down to a contract or are only in France for a couple of months, you'll be better off with a SIM-only, prepaid card. Orange offers this option too, under the name of "Mobicarte". You have 3 Mobicartes to choose from:

1. The basic SIM, which costs €2.99 and includes unlimited calls and SMS from 9 pm to 12 am
2. the Orange Holiday SIM for €39.99, which is valid for 14 days and includes unlimited calls, unlimited SMS to France and Europe, 30GB of data in Europe.
3. The Orange Mobicarte Vacances World for €14.99, which is valid for 14 days and includes 10GB of data in world.

If you need a recharge, you'll be able to purchase an Orange recharge tailored to your needs, with prices ranging from €5 to €100.

The Orange internet plans

As for the Orange internet plans, you have the choice between ADSL, VDSL and optical fiber. These are all gathered under the name of "Livebox", "Livebox Up" and "Livebox Max", depending on what type of internet usage you need.

For both plans, you will be under a mandatory 12-month contract, you get unlimited calls to fixed lines in France, the DOM and 110 other countries, plus you get a TV decoder with access to 140 channels.

• With the Livebox, you pay €22.99 per month the first year, regardless of whether you use fiber, ADSL or VDSL2 (prices then go up thereafter, more so with fiber). In ADSL, speed is of 15MBits/s and with optical fiber, it goes up to 500MBits/s.
• With the Livebox Up, you pay €29.99 per month the first year, regardless of whether you use fiber, ADSL or VDSL2 (prices then go up thereafter, more so with fiber). In ADSL, speed is of 15MBits/s and with optical fiber, it goes up to 600MBits/s in upload and 1Gbit/s in download. This offer is slightly more expensive because you get unlimited calls to mobile lines in France and 110 countries, a high tech Livebox 5 and TV 4 decoder + a second decoder on demand and a WiFi repetor for €1 (which is great for spacious houses).
• With the Livebox Max, you pay €34.99 per month the first year, regardless of whether you use fiber, ADSL or VDSL2 (prices then go up thereafter, more so with fiber). In ADSL, speed is of 15MBits/s and with optical fiber, it goes up to 800MBits/s in upload and 2Gbit/s in download. This offer is slightly more expensive because you get unlimited calls to mobile lines in France and 110 countries, a high tech Livebox 5 and TV 5 decoder + a second decoder on demand and 3 WiFi repetors for €1 (which is great for spacious houses), a Airbox 20Go.

The Orange Customer Service

If for whatever reason you need to contact the Orange customer service - for technical assistance, a question about your bill, to upgrade your plan - here are all the ways in which you can do so:

• By phone, by calling 3900
• Online, via your Espace client Orange
• On the Orange Forum
• On the Orange social media accounts
• Via the provider's postal address relevant to your query.

For all the detailed info about how to contact Orange in France and the Orange English-speaking customer service, check out this dedicated article.

Orange - Procedures and How-Tos

Signing up for a Mobile Phone Plan With Orange

If you're interested in a phone plan with Orange, you can go around it in 3 different ways: by simply calling the customer service at 3900, by following the procedure on the Orange website, or by going to an Orange boutique. If you are looking to set up a landline, then you first of all need to make sure your French line is activated, which is explained in detail in this other article.

Whichever way you decide to sign up to Orange, make sure you gather the following information beforehand:

1. Your contact details - name, valid email address
2. You full home address
3. Your full banking details - note that you need to have a French bank account in order to sign up for a phone plan.

Signing up for a Broadband Plan With Orange

If you're interested in an Orange broadband deal, get started by calling 3900.

To sign up for an Internet plan with Orange, you will need to provide the exact same information than as for mobile plans, as stated above. You may also want to test your phone line to determine whether you are eligible to optical fiber, ADSL on satellite technology only. This can be done so over the phone by an Orange advisor, in an Orange boutique, or on the Orange website via the fiber eligibility test (you just need to enter your home address).

Cancelling a Phone or Internet Plan With Orange

If you've decided for whatever reason you want to put a term to your contract with Orange, you can do so:

• Over the phone
• Via your Orange online account
• By sending a signed-for letter to Orange Service Résiliation, 33734 Bordeaux Cedex 9, France. Make sure the letter features your full name, account number (identifiant abonné) and account ID (numéro de ligne).

After that, once the provider has received your request, your subscription should take an end within 10 days. You'll also need to return the equipment lent to you (modem for example).

If you are on a contract, make sure you've gone passed the initial agreed-on period, otherwise, you will be charged. Namely, you'll be fined a fixed sum of €50 for stopping an Internet contract. As for phone plans, it's a bit more complex as it will depend on how long you'd had left before the end of the contract and whether you were tied down for 12 or 24 months:
 With a 12-month contract, you'll have to pay the total of the monthly sums left.
Ex: if you had 3 months of a €20/month contract left, you'd owe Orange €60.
 With 24-month contracts, you pay the remainder of the first year + 25% of the remaining second year.
Ex: if you cancelled a €20/month contract after 8 months, you'd owe Orange €80 for year 1 + 3 months' worth (25%) of year 2, so a total of 80+60=€140. If you cancelled after 16 months, however, you'd only owe Orange 25% of the remaining 8 months, so €40.

For more information about cancelling your Orange plan and for a cancellation letter template, check out this article.