 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Founded | 4 October 1994; 31 years ago (1994-10-04) (company foundation) 30 May 1996; 29 years ago (1996-05-30) (launch of mobile services) |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | France |
Key people | Benoît Torloting (CEO) Richard Viel (Chairman of the Board of Directors) |
| Services | Mobile network operator andInternet service provider |
| Revenue | 6.058 billion euros (2019) |
| 379 million euros (2019) | |
| Owner | Bouygues (90.53%) JCDecaux (9.47%) |
Number of employees | 8,937 (as of 2019) |
| Parent | Bouygues |
| Website | bouyguestelecom |
Bouygues Telecom S.A. (French pronunciation:[bwiɡtelekɔm]) is a Frenchmobile phone,Internet service provider andIPTV company, part of theBouygues group. It is the third oldest mobile network operator in France, afterOrange andSFR, and beforeFree Mobile, and provides2GGSM,3GUMTS,4GLTE and5GNR services. Its headquarters, designed byArquitectonica and opened in 2011, is located at the border ofParis andIssy-les-Moulineaux near theRiver Seine.[1]
Bouygues Telecom was authorised by the French government to build and operate France's thirdGSM mobile phone network on 4 December 1994, and commercially launched its network on 30 May 1996. To compensate for its initial weaker coverage in comparison to Orange and SFR, Bouygues Telecom developed several innovations:
By 2001, Bouygues Telecom's market share reached approximately 17%. In that same year, Bouygues Telecom negotiated withNTT DoCoMo regarding a potential partnership and the right to offer the latter'si-modemobile internet service, which ultimately did not materialise.
In March 2005, the firstDVB-H trials in France were carried out by Bouygues Telecom in cooperation with Orange andTPS. Bouygues Telecom subsequently launchedEDGE on its mobile network in May 2005.
On 25 May 2009, Bouygues Telecom launched France's first convergedquadruple play offer called "ideo", using a combined Internetmodem andset-top box calledBbox. This idea was subsequently quickly copied by Orange, SFR and Free Mobile. On 22 October 2010, the Bbox offer was expanded to includefibre Internet in cooperation withNumericable.
On 18 July 2011, Bouygues Telecom launched its lower-costflanker brand calledB&YOU, offering postpaid plans online without fixed contracts.[3]
In January 2016, Bouygues Telecom were subject to negotiations regarding an acquisition from mobile carrierOrange,[4] which did not progress.[5]
In June 2020, Bouygues Telecom acquiredEuro-Information Telecom, theMVNE forNRJ Mobile,Auchan Telecom,Cdiscount Mobile,CIC Mobile andCrédit Mutuel Mobile, and subsequently renamed the latter asBouygues Telecom Business – Distribution in early 2021.[6][7]
In 2025, Bouygues Telecom is under criticism for the addition of a new "unsubscription fee" of about€5[8]. Few months ago, it added a€2 additional fees by default for all customers, for the customer service by phone[9].
Later, in summer 2025, the operator launched it's 40GB worldwide mobile offer, for new customers, providing the possibility to get 40GB ofmobile internet, in a 112 countries around the globe. It doesnt include phone calls, though[10].
Along with Orange and SFR, Bouygues Telecom was, in 2005, found by theAutorité de la concurrence (the French competition body) to have acted against the best interests of consumers and the economy by sharing confidential information between 1997 and 2003. The three companies were collectively fined €535 million in total. In November 2007, Bouygues Telecom went to court seeking to have the ruling annulled.
In February 2009, the company was ordered to take down amobile phone mast due to uncertainty about its effect on health. Residents in the communeCharbonnières in theRhône department had sued the company claiming adversehealth effects from the radiation emitted by the 19-meter-tall (62 ft) antenna.[11] The milestone ruling by theVersailles Court of Appeal [fr] reversed theburden of proof which is usual in such cases by emphasizing the extreme divergence between different countries in assessing safe limits for such radiation. The court stated that, "Considering that, while the reality of the risk remains hypothetical, it becomes clear from reading the contributions and scientific publications produced in debate and the divergent legislative positions taken in various countries, that uncertainty over the harmlessness of exposure to the waves emitted by relay antennas persists and can be considered serious and reasonable".[12]
They sponsored the bicycle racing teamBbox Bouygues Telecom from 2005 to 2010.
{{cite web}}:|last= has generic name (help)
