In the midst of a storm due to discouraging results, SFR is this time faced with an unflattering ranking, that of customer satisfaction where it comes last of the 4 major French ISPs.
Historic French operator, SFR has been in trouble for some time. Weighed down by a large debt, weakened by suspicions of corruption at its head and suffering from a significant flight of customers, the operator in the red square is having a hard time seeing the end of the tunnel. In this context, the telecoms regulatory authority has added another layer by ranking the company last in its annual customer satisfaction observatory.
Orange first, Free in ambush
Already at the back of the pack last year, SFR cannot really get its head above water this year. The overall satisfaction of the operator’s mobile or Internet customers peaks at 7.3/10 compared to 7.2 last year. In front we find Bouygues at 7.5/10, Free at 7.7/10 and Orange at the top of the ranking at 7.8/10. The general average for all operators combined is therefore 7.7/10.
The classification is also the same whether we are interested in the activity of mobile operator or Internet access provider. Orange still takes the lead in the ranking and SFR closes it with Free and Bouygues fighting for second and third place. As a mobile operator, SFR is rated 7.4/10 and as an Internet service provider 7/10. The company is also the one with the most customers declaring “have encountered at least one problem in the last 12 months“.
Pivotal period for SFR
Moreover, in the category of customers who have dealt with their operator’s customer service at least once, SFR’s rating drops to 6/10, behind Free, Bouygues and Orange (6.2, 6.5 and 6, 6 respectively). For Patrick Drahi’s ISP, this is a difficult pill to swallow with 40% of customers rating customer service between 0 and 5 out of 10.
If the figures change little compared to previous years, SFR’s situation has changed significantly and the operator’s reputation risks further suffering at a time when its foundations are fragile. Rumors about the sale of the company have been rife for several months and Patrick Drahi is already trying to get rid of XpFibre, the Altice subsidiary dedicated to the management of fiber optic networks. The data centers managed by Altice have already passed under foreign flag, in an attempt to put the company’s finances back in the green.
Source : Arcep
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