SFR (; ''Société française du radiotéléphone'', ) is a French
telecommunications
Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...
company.
As of December 2015, it had 21.9 million customers in Metropolitan France for mobile services, and provided 6.35 million households with high-speed internet access.
SFR also offers services in the overseas departments of France, in the Caribbean islands of
Martinique
Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in th ...
,
Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the ...
, and in
Guyane
French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic coast of South America in the Guianas. It ...
through SFR Caraïbe, as well as in the Indian Ocean, in
Mayotte
Mayotte (; french: Mayotte, ; Shimaore: ''Maore'', ; Kibushi: ''Maori'', ), officially the Department of Mayotte (french: Département de Mayotte), is an overseas department and region and single territorial collectivity of France. It is loc ...
and the
Réunion
Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...
islands through SRR (''Société Réunionnaise du Radiotéléphone''), although the company is branded as ''SFR Réunion''.
SFR (SFR Belux) operated in Belgium as a cable operator and MVNO in some communes of
Brussels Region
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
and in some areas of
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
. The division was sold to rival
Telenet
Telenet was an American commercial packet-switched network which went into service in 1975. It was the first FCC-licensed public data network in the United States. Various commercial and government interests paid monthly fees for dedicated lines ...
(owned by
Liberty Global
Liberty Global plc is a British-Dutch-American multinational telecommunications company with headquarters in London, Amsterdam and Denver. Its respective legal names are Liberty Global Plc, Liberty Global B.V. and Liberty Global, Inc., with ...
) in December 2016.
History
SFR was founded as a company in 1987 in order for its parent company ''
Compagnie Générale des Eaux
Vivendi SE is a French mass media holding company headquartered in Paris. Widely known as the owner of Gameloft, Groupe Canal+, Havas, Editis, Prisma Media, Vivendi Village and Dailymotion, the company has activities in television, film, video ...
'' (CGE) to start offering a
1G mobile phone service using the modified Nordic telecommunications standard
NMT-F, to be operated in competition with the then-telephony incumbent
France Télécom
Orange S.A. (), formerly France Télécom S.A. (stylized as france telecom) is a French multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications corporation. It has 266 million customers worldwide and employs 89,000 people in France, and 5 ...
's Radiocom 2000
( fr) network. SFR also became the second French mobile network operator (after France Télécom) to launch
2G GSM
The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to describe the protocols for second-generation ( 2G) digital cellular networks used by mobile devices such ...
services, which it did on 15 November 1992.
Vodafone
Vodafone Group Public limited company, plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Telephone company, telecommunications company. Its registered office and Headquarters, global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It ...
had a 44% share in SFR until April 2011, when it sold its entire share back to SFR's founder parent company
Vivendi
Vivendi SE is a French mass media holding company headquartered in Paris. Widely known as the owner of Gameloft, Groupe Canal+, Havas, Editis, Prisma Media, Vivendi Village and Dailymotion, the company has activities in television, film, video ...
. SFR is a major partner network of Vodafone in France.
Vivendi announced in March 2014 that it planned to sell its SFR division.
On 14 March, Vivendi announced that it would enter exclusive negotiations with Altice/
Numericable
Numericable was a major French Cable television, cable operator and telecommunications services company. Numericable was originally created in 2007 from the merger between former competitors Noos and NC Numericable networks. Numericable Group SA w ...
, to the exclusion of
Bouygues
Bouygues S.A. () is a French industrial group headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, 8th arrondissement of Paris, France. Bouygues is listed on the Euronext, Euronext Paris exchange and is a blue chip (stock market), blue chip in the C ...
and
Iliad
The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odysse ...
.
[ ]Arnaud Montebourg
Arnaud Montebourg (; born 30 October 1962) is a French politician, lawyer and entrepreneur who served as the Minister of Industrial Renewal from 2012 to 2014,[Iliad
The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odysse ...]
lost 7.5% of its market value on that day.[
SFR having 28.6 million subscribers versus 1,7 million for Numericable and much more notoriety, ]Patrick Drahi
Patrick Drahi ( he, פטריק דרהי; born 20 August 1963) is a French–Israeli billionaire, businessman telecoms, media tycoon, and investor, magnate. He has been living in Switzerland since 1999.. He is the founder and controlling shareho ...
announced that SFR will replace Numericable
Numericable was a major French Cable television, cable operator and telecommunications services company. Numericable was originally created in 2007 from the merger between former competitors Noos and NC Numericable networks. Numericable Group SA w ...
. In late 2015, Numericable Outremer became SFR Caraïbe. On 15 February 2016, Numericable was rebranded as SFR in Belgium and Luxembourg, with the launch of new packages and the SVOD service Zive.
In February 2016 Orange
Orange most often refers to:
*Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis''
** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower
*Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum
* ...
, SFR and Free
Free may refer to:
Concept
* Freedom, having the ability to do something, without having to obey anyone/anything
* Freethought, a position that beliefs should be formed only on the basis of logic, reason, and empiricism
* Emancipate, to procur ...
announced the purchase of their competitor Bouygues Telecom
Bouygues Telecom () is a French mobile phone, Internet service provider and IPTV company, part of the Bouygues group. It is the third oldest mobile network operator in France, after Orange and SFR, and before Free Mobile. Its headquarters, de ...
. However, negotiations for the purchase agreement fell through a few months later.
In December 2016, Altice sold SFR Belux to Telenet
Telenet was an American commercial packet-switched network which went into service in 1975. It was the first FCC-licensed public data network in the United States. Various commercial and government interests paid monthly fees for dedicated lines ...
.[ Next Inpact, 22 December 2016] SFR was merged in Belgium with Telenet on 31 March 2019 ; and SFR Luxembourg merged with Eltrona on 1 April 2020.
Slogans
*1987-1990: "Parce qu’un abonné SFR n’est pas qu’un simple numéro"
*1990-1994: "Ligne SFR, Le téléphone liberté"
*1994-1996: "SFR, Le monde sans fil est à vous"
*1996-1999: "Sans fil SFR, le monde est à vous"
*1999-2000: "Vous n'avez pas fini d'être LIBRE"
*2000-2001: "SFR, le meilleur réseau"
*2001-2003: "Vous serez toujours plus qu’un simple numéro"
*2003-2005: "Plus de plaisir"
*2005-2007: "Parlons mieux, parlons mobile"
*2007-2008: "Vivons mobile"
*2008-2010: "SFR, et le monde est à vous"
*2010-2014: "Carrément vous"
*2014-2015: "Smart comme vous"
*2015-2016: "SFR, et tout s'accélère"
*2016-2017: "#NewSFR"
*2017: "Pour vous, SFR change"
*2017-2018: "SFR, en chemin vers le meilleur"
*2018: "SFR, enjoy"
*2022: "Soyez vous" (Translation : "Be you")
SFR TV
SFR TV is a television service accessible on ''La Box de SFR'' and ''La Box Fibre de SFR'', which delivers television programs via the broadband internet telephone network (xDSL
Digital subscriber line (DSL; originally digital subscriber loop) is a family of technologies that are used to transmit digital data over telephone lines. In telecommunications marketing, the term DSL is widely understood to mean asymmetric di ...
), high-speed internet (FTTH
Fiber to the ''x'' (FTTX; also spelled "fibre") or fiber in the loop is a generic term for any broadband network architecture using optical fiber to provide all or part of the local loop used for last mile telecommunications. As fiber op ...
or FTTB
Fiber to the ''x'' (FTTX; also spelled "fibre") or fiber in the loop is a generic term for any broadband network architecture using optical fiber to provide all or part of the local loop used for last mile telecommunications. As fiber optic ...
fiber within Numericable
Numericable was a major French Cable television, cable operator and telecommunications services company. Numericable was originally created in 2007 from the merger between former competitors Noos and NC Numericable networks. Numericable Group SA w ...
). The service was also broadcast by satellite with ''SFR Sat'' available on the Astra 19.2°E
Astra 19.2°E is the name for the group of Astra communications satellites co-located at the 19.2°East orbital position in the Clarke Belt that are owned and operated by SES based in Betzdorf, Luxembourg.
Astra 19.2°E used to be commonly k ...
satellite until October 2015.
The SFR TV package includes more than 200 channels, some pay-tv
Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, but ...
channels can be added as an option, by subscribing to a specific paid package, classified by theme (sport, youth, music, international ...).
On 17 November 2015, Numericable-SFR launched its SVOD service Zive, for the Power bouquet subscribers. Zive and Power packages became SFR Play in 2016.
Altice signed an exclusive agreement with Discovery and NBCUniversal
NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States.
NBCUniversal is primari ...
in December 2016. The premium movies and series TV channel Altice Studio
Altice Studio is a French Premium pay television channel dedicated to movies and series operated by Altice France.
The channel launched on 22 August 2017 as part of the company new strategy to provide to their subscribers their own television cha ...
was launched on 22 August 2017.
The Numericable and SFR channels numbering were merged on 22 August 2017, and in 2019, the Numericable exclusive channels (MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
, Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...
, J-One
J-One is a French television channel dedicated to Asian anime and culture. It was launched on 4 October 2013.
J-One broadcast anime in simulcast. Many of these are then broadcast with French dub on Game One
Game One is a French television ch ...
, Série Club, Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...
...) were added to SFR ADSL offer. The brand Numericable disappeared.
SFR Sport
RMC Sport (formerly SFR Sport) is a package of French TV channels (RMC Sport 1 RMC may refer to:
* Radio Monte Carlo, a radio station operation in France, Monaco and Italy
** RMC (France), the French version of Radio Monte Carlo
*Renal medullary carcinoma
* Rotherham Central railway station by its National Rail code
* Royal M ...
, RMC Sport 2 RMC may refer to:
* Radio Monte Carlo, a radio station operation in France, Monaco and Italy
** RMC (France), the French version of Radio Monte Carlo
*Renal medullary carcinoma
* Rotherham Central railway station by its National Rail code
* Royal M ...
, RMC Sport 3 RMC may refer to:
* Radio Monte Carlo, a radio station operation in France, Monaco and Italy
** RMC (France), the French version of Radio Monte Carlo
*Renal medullary carcinoma
* Rotherham Central railway station by its National Rail code
* Royal M ...
, RMC Sport 4 RMC may refer to:
* Radio Monte Carlo, a radio station operation in France, Monaco and Italy
** RMC (France), the French version of Radio Monte Carlo
*Renal medullary carcinoma
* Rotherham Central railway station by its National Rail code
* Royal M ...
, RMC Sport 1UHD) from the SFR Group devoted to sports. They are available for SFR, Canal+
Canal+ (Canal Plus, , meaning 'Channel Plus'; sometimes abbreviated C+ or Canal) is a French premium television channel launched in 1984. It is 100% owned by the Groupe Canal+, which in turn is owned by Vivendi. The channel broadcasts several ki ...
, My.T and OTT subscribers.
In 2016, Altice acquired the rights of many sports competitions (Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
, Liga NOS
The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...
, Champions League) to form its SFR Sport bouquet. MCS, MCS Extrême and Kombat Sport were rebranded as SFR Sport 2, SFR Sport 3 and SFR Sport 5 ; and SFR Sport 1 and 4K were launched. The SFR Sport bouquet became RMC Sport on 3 July 2018.
See also
*Telecommunications in France
Telecommunications in France are highly developed. France is served by an extensive system of automatic telephone exchanges connected by modern networks of fiber-optic cable, coaxial cable, microwave radio relay, and a domestic satellite system; ...
*Altice Studio
Altice Studio is a French Premium pay television channel dedicated to movies and series operated by Altice France.
The channel launched on 22 August 2017 as part of the company new strategy to provide to their subscribers their own television cha ...
* Meo
References
External links
*
*
Corporate website of Altice France
SFR Reunion
SFR Mayotte
SFR Caraïbe
SFR Belgium
(archive)
SFR Luxembourg
(archive)
SFR Jeunes Talents – SFR's initiative to help promote and discover new talents on mobile and web
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sfr
Altice (company)
Altice France
Telecommunications companies of France
Mobile phone companies of France
Multinational companies headquartered in France
Internet service providers of France
French brands
French business families
Telecommunications companies established in 1987
1987 establishments in France
Former Vivendi subsidiaries
2014 mergers and acquisitions