La Poste Mobile for sale: what impact for its 2 million customers?

More than 2 million people left behind? While the La Poste group is seeking to sell all or part of its virtual mobile operator La Poste Mobile, the question of the fate of the 2.3 million subscribers to the service arises. Questioned by us about this information published in Les Échos, La Poste “confirms that it has started a reflection on the evolution of the capital of La Poste Mobile with the aim of promoting the success of the brand, leader of the French market for virtual operators, and to accelerate its development.

Behind the four major commercial operators in the country (Orange, SFR, Free, Bouygues), La Poste Mobile is the fifth in number of subscribers. It is even by far the first “MVNO”, these virtual operators which use the network and antennas of third-party companies, SFR in the case of La Poste Mobile. Philippe Wahl's group does not say more about the reasons which lead it to want to sell all or part of this asset. La Poste Mobile became profitable in 2022 with 2.8 million euros in operating profit, and this could reach 48 million euros in 2024 according to Les Échos. Enough to enhance the 51% that La Poste holds in the operator, the remaining 49% being held by SFR.

“This development, if confirmed, will have the condition of continuing the marketing of La Poste Mobile in the post office network, a key factor in its success, of sustaining the activity and of consolidating the brand in a long-term partnership,” explains La Poste to Le Figaro. In other words, the idea is to make the service prosper, once the partial or total transfer has been completed. Enough to reassure current customers. In fact, the 7,000 post offices are an essential acquisition channel for the virtual operator and a huge competitive advantage over its competitors.

It remains to be seen what the decision of the buyer of this stake will be. In any case, the position of SFR, which holds 49% of the company's capital, is anything but negligible. If it refuses to comment, the group has a right of pre-emption to recover the remaining 51% and a right of veto on the choice of another buyer. It is also the technical service provider of the virtual operator, providing it with its mobile network.

The virtual operator market, which flourished in the early 2010s, has entered a phase of accelerated consolidation in recent years, with waves of takeovers led first by Bouygues Telecom (NRJ Mobile, CDiscount, Auchan Telecom) then SFR (Syma , Prixtel, Coriolis, Réglo Mobile). While certain brands have persisted, others have been integrated into the network operators' fleet. Arcep now has around a dozen virtual operators dedicated to the individual market.

The number of SIM cards from MVNO operators increased from 8.6 to 5.5 million users between September 2020 and September 2022. This represents a collapse in the market share of these players, going from 11.5% to 5, 5% over the same period. Already shaken up in 2012 by the arrival of Free and its low-cost positioning, virtual operators then had to face the arrival on the market of digital offers, often without commitment and inexpensive, from the three other major operators, which either Orange (Sosh), SFR (Red), or Bouygues Telecom (B

Over the past year, however, the dynamic has been better, with subscriber recruitment and a slight increase in the market share of virtual operators, whether independent or owned by large operators. “We are seeing continued operation of each of these brands. This diversity gives agility to network operators, who use these brands to respond to aggressive offers from the competition without damaging the positioning of their historic brand,” explains Fabien Charmetant, expert for the telecoms broker Ariase. According to him, the concentration has “not prevented other MVNOs from continuing their growth or even launching brilliantly, like YouPrice”.