French telecom disruptor Free has upgraded its flagship mobile package to include unlimited 4G/5G data in 135 countries—including the UK, US, Australia and South Africa—at no extra cost for existing €29.99-a-month subscribers (or €19.99 for Freebox clients). The offer, quietly pushed live on 14 May 2026, turns the operator into a one-stop connectivity choice for frequent flyers, digital nomads and expatriates posted out of France.
1. What’s new?
Until now, Free throttled non-EU roaming to 25 GB. From 14 May, the cap disappears altogether in every destination where Free holds wholesale agreements. Calls and texts remain unlimited within the EU and carry generous bundles elsewhere. The move leapfrogs rivals Orange, Bouygues and SFR, whose top-tier plans still cap extra-European data at 100–200 GB.
2. Why it matters for global mobility
• Cost predictability: assignees landing in the US or Asia often rack up triple-digit roaming bills. Free’s flat-rate model lets HR budget a single monthly allowance.
• eSIM support: new arrivals can activate service on day one, even before French bank accounts are opened—a perennial pain-point for short-term assignees.
• Back-up connectivity: unlimited data doubles as a contingency for home-office outages, increasingly critical under France’s remote-work visa pathways.
![Free Mobile unleashes unlimited data roaming in 135 countries for €29.99]()
3. Competitive landscape and regulatory angle
The announcement lands as the EU reviews its ‘Roam-Like-at-Home’ regulation and mulls extending consumer-friendly rules to long-distance roaming. Free is betting that pre-emptive generosity will head off future price caps while luring high-spend business users. But telecoms regulator Arcep warns that aggressive promotions could stress wholesale-roaming margins and trigger network-congestion complaints at busy gateways such as Paris-CDG.
While Free simplifies connectivity, securing the right travel documents remains critical. VisaHQ’s France platform (https://www.visahq.com/france/) offers an end-to-end visa and passport procurement service for over 200 countries, letting HR managers bundle immigration compliance alongside mobile provisioning and keep assignees on schedule.
4. Practical tips for employers and assignees
• Verify device compatibility: Free relies on Band 28 in parts of Africa and Latin America; older handsets may default to 3G.
• Register corporate lines: French data-retention rules require employers to keep subscriber logs; ensure HRIS import aligns with GDPR.
• Watch for fair-use: Free reserves the right to downgrade speeds after “abnormally intensive” usage abroad, though no hard figure is published. Heavy cloud-backup traffic could still be throttled.
Bottom line: with mobile data now effectively commoditised, relocation teams can shift focus from cost policing to security—rolling out zero-trust VPNs and mobile-device management on a predictable, low per-employee tariff.
1. What’s new?
Until now, Free throttled non-EU roaming to 25 GB. From 14 May, the cap disappears altogether in every destination where Free holds wholesale agreements. Calls and texts remain unlimited within the EU and carry generous bundles elsewhere. The move leapfrogs rivals Orange, Bouygues and SFR, whose top-tier plans still cap extra-European data at 100–200 GB.
2. Why it matters for global mobility
• Cost predictability: assignees landing in the US or Asia often rack up triple-digit roaming bills. Free’s flat-rate model lets HR budget a single monthly allowance.
• eSIM support: new arrivals can activate service on day one, even before French bank accounts are opened—a perennial pain-point for short-term assignees.
• Back-up connectivity: unlimited data doubles as a contingency for home-office outages, increasingly critical under France’s remote-work visa pathways.
3. Competitive landscape and regulatory angle
The announcement lands as the EU reviews its ‘Roam-Like-at-Home’ regulation and mulls extending consumer-friendly rules to long-distance roaming. Free is betting that pre-emptive generosity will head off future price caps while luring high-spend business users. But telecoms regulator Arcep warns that aggressive promotions could stress wholesale-roaming margins and trigger network-congestion complaints at busy gateways such as Paris-CDG.
While Free simplifies connectivity, securing the right travel documents remains critical. VisaHQ’s France platform (https://www.visahq.com/france/) offers an end-to-end visa and passport procurement service for over 200 countries, letting HR managers bundle immigration compliance alongside mobile provisioning and keep assignees on schedule.
4. Practical tips for employers and assignees
• Verify device compatibility: Free relies on Band 28 in parts of Africa and Latin America; older handsets may default to 3G.
• Register corporate lines: French data-retention rules require employers to keep subscriber logs; ensure HRIS import aligns with GDPR.
• Watch for fair-use: Free reserves the right to downgrade speeds after “abnormally intensive” usage abroad, though no hard figure is published. Heavy cloud-backup traffic could still be throttled.
Bottom line: with mobile data now effectively commoditised, relocation teams can shift focus from cost policing to security—rolling out zero-trust VPNs and mobile-device management on a predictable, low per-employee tariff.
