France Telecom-Orange’s chief financial officer, Gervais Pellissier, has told Les Echos newspaper that the company plans to revamp its tariffs in France by April when its domestic mobile unit Orange France launches Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology in 15 cities. ‘We are convinced that customers are willing to pay a small premium as long as coverage and quality are a given,’ said Pellissier. The executive told the newspaper that the FT-Orange had increased prices by between GBP6-GBP10 (USD9.5-USD15.7) when UK cellco EE launched 4G during the fourth quarter of 2012. FT-Orange plans to cover all of Paris with LTE by the end of 2013.
Meanwhile, in a separate but related story, French newspaper La Tribune says that SFR will launch LTE in a district of Paris known as La Defense on 29 January. The cellco launched 4G services in Lyon on 29 November and in Montpellier on 20 December.