Prices, various charges, packages, quality of service and speed... The new comparison tool made available free of charge by ILR was unveiled on Thursday 14 November. Easily accessible on the website, it lets you choose the type of package you want: fixed internet, television, fixed telephone and mobile services, which can be combined. Around fifty offers are compared, and users can adjust certain filters, such as the maximum price they want to pay, the length of commitment they want, their municipality, etc. The more refined the search, the narrower the number of offers.

The ILR states that the service is “operationally independent of the service providers.” However, the latter have access to the tool and are “required to provide information about their offers, under the supervision of the institute.” The ILR adds that “it is their responsibility to keep the list of published offers and the data for each published offer up to date.”

In 2023, operators lost 70,400 customers

Every year since 2016, the ILR has already published a study of telecoms service tariffs. The methodological approach of these studies defined six consumption profiles, with a monthly cost for each offer collected calculated according to these six profiles. Consumers could then base their choice of package on this study. But consumers still had to take into account other criteria linked to their specific needs. In its latest study, the ILR advised consumers to “review their contract at the end of its term in the light of their actual needs,” because “it may be worthwhile for consumers to take out a new contract with a package that better matches their actual consumption.” The Smartcompare tool is linked to this recommendation and enables the criteria to be further refined according to the consumer’s profile.

In 2023, operators recorded a loss of 70,400 customers, representing a churn rate of 7.2%. This is known as ‘churn,’ i.e., the number of fixed Internet customers lost. This represents 14,000 fewer customers in 2023, or 5.5% of total internet connections. In addition, the ILR mediation service reported 98 mediation requests in 2023 concerning electronic communications services.

On the new tool, the comparison criteria are established by the ILR to enable an “objective comparison.” Two types of price are displayed: the basic price (which includes the monthly recurring fee but excludes benefits), and the average price (prorated for the duration of the contract, taking benefits into account).

This article was originally published in .