What’s dégroupage?

Dégroupage is the French term for ‘degrouped’, in this sense it means that companies other than France Télécom (Orange) can connect your telephone line. Most cities and towns in France are degrouped, while small villages and rural areas aren’t and must use France Télécom for their phone line. If you live in an area that is not degrouped and you want to go with someone other than Orange, you will need to pay €16 per month for your phone line.

So what are my options?

Orange (France Télécom)

France’s formerly public telecoms company. They offer internet, television and telephone service for €39.90 per month. On top of this you need to add €3 to rent your router and €49 up front as caution.

Internet – 18 mbps
Television – up to 75 channels
Telephone – Free to French metropolitan landlines. Calls to mobiles, DOM/TOM, and abroad will cost extra.

Why? They’re everywhere, and if you’re in an area that isn’t degrouped, you may not have much of a choice.

Why not? Too expensive, and international phone calls aren’t included.

Neufbox (from SFR)

Degrouped areas: Internet + television + telephone = €29.90 per month.
Non-degrouped: Internet + telephone: €34.90 per month

Internet: 20 mbps
Television: 130 channels
Telephone: Free to landlines in France and over 90 countries.

Why? Comfort of a large company, and less expensive than Orange.
Why not? Not as fast as some other companies, fewer channels than others, fewer countries for free landlines.

Alice

Internet + television + telephone = €29.95 per month.

Internet: 28 mbps in degrouped areas, otherwise 22 mbps
Television: 150 channels
Telephone: Free to landlines in France and 87 other areas (including certain DOM)

Why? Offer looks interesting. Also decent customer service when setting up the service.
Why not? Quality of network is poor. CNN isn’t included, and BBC World News isn’t even offered.

Free

Internet + television + telephone = €29.99 per month.

Internet: 28 mbps
Television: 150 channels included, 150 others optional (CNN and BBC World will cost €0.25 per month each)
Telephone: Free to landlines in 100 countries, including France.

Why? Large range of services included, others on option.
Why not? A bit technical to set up.

Numericable

Internet + television + telephone = €31.90 per month.

Internet: between 30-100 mbps
Television: at least 120 channels included, other packages available.
Telephone: Free to landlines in over 50 countries.

Why? You want your internet fast. Numericable is big on fibre optic internet, which is gradually being rolled out in major French cities.
Why not? Limited television choices. Fewer countries included in telephone service.

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One person’s trash is another person’s treasure: your local ‘brocante‘

The closest thing to a yard sale in France is known as a ‘brocante‘ or a ‘vide-grenier‘. These aren’t just individuals who set up shop in their front garden! Instead, the town organises the whole thing, and anyone who wants to participate can do so for a small fee depending on the amount of space they need. In exchange, the town will take care of all of the advertising, and it works: the French love to come around and sniff for a great deal!

These are particularly popular in the months leading up to the great August holiday, so if you arrive during the spring or summer, stop by your local town hall and ask when the next one will be held. On any given weekend it’s also likely that there’s a brocante in a town nearby that you can easily reach by car. Fortunately there are sites that list upcoming brocantes: start with http://vide-greniers.org/, where can search by town, department, and region.

Barter

Before the invention of money, all transactions took place based on exchanging one thing for another. With the economy softer than it has been in decades, more and more people are looking to excahnge their old, unwanted items for something that they really need or want. If you’ve brought something with you that you find you no longer need, have a look at http://www.gchangetout.com/ or http://www.femmeactuelle.fr/multimedia/le-meilleur-du-web/site-de-troc-09495 for an idea of what’s on offer. If you’re in Paris, you can also have a look on craigslist.

Get stuff for free

Desperate people who have no idea what else to do with an old desk or lamp or bike are even giving the things away online. Rather than throwing it away, there’s sure to be someone who can take it off their hands–and that person could be you! You might need to do some repair work to put it in working order, but that makes for a perfect weekend project. Try looking on http://www.recupe.net/index.html for a start.

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