Iliad

"Iliad is actually a holding company with multiple entities operating in the same sectors. For example, Free SAS, Alice ADSL, and IFW SAS operate as internet service providers, while Online SAS, Dedibox, and Iliad Entreprises offer internet hosting. One. Tel SAS, Kedra SAS, and Free Mobile are involved in telecommunications, and Citéfibre, Free Infrastructures, IRE SAS, and Immobilière Iliad are involved in fiber optics. This is what is meant by "competitive bidding."

"Cyril Poidatz, who had been working at Cap Gemini, one of the top computer services companies where he had worked for ten years after beginning his career as an auditor at Coopers & Lybrand, joined the management team at Iliad in 1998. He was then 38 years old and one of the older members of the team. Today, he is the 418th wealthiest person in France with an estimated net worth of €73 million according to Challenges magazine's 2012 ranking. The following year, the technical team was strengthened with the addition of 23-year-old Rani Assaf as head of the IP and Telecom network, and Antoine Levavasseur, two years younger, in charge of the platform and Free's services. Both were recent graduates of the Engineering School of Information and Communication Technologies (EFREI), formerly known as the French School of Radioelectricity (EFR)."

"No need for PowerPoint. It's all in his head. The founder of Iliad doesn't like anything related to social management. Just as with financial issues, he outsources this area. He never negotiates with unions and doesn't attend works council meetings. In the beginning, he also kept away from the general public. He's the thinker who highlights his knights."

"In November 2009, the founder of Iliad and Olivier Rosenfeld teamed up with Emmanuel de Buretel, CEO of the label Because, and businessman Alexandre Kartalis to buy the song catalogue of Claude François from the singer's sons for 5 million euros. Xavier Niel was already involved in the sector. In 2007, he invested 250,000 euros (20% of the capital) in Deezer, an on-demand music streaming service on the internet that had 20 million users and 1. 4 million subscribers by the end of 2011. The collection of Cloclo's hits ("Alexandrie-Alexandra", "Comme d'habitude", "Magnolia", etc. ) generates several hundred thousand euros in royalties per year, including 333,000 euros from exports alone. Xavier Niel and Olivier Rosenfeld also jointly invested in the Belgian open-source software publisher OpenERP in February 2010."

"Iliad does not consider itself a low-cost company but rather a low-cost group. As a challenger, unnecessary expenses in the house are not taken lightly. There are no company cars. Expense reports are rare and closely scrutinized."

"Its strength lies in its ability to maintain a very simple model. With just one offering while other players in the sector promote very complex offers with bloated teams to manage them. " To add insult to injury, Iliad does not miss a chance to poke fun at the competition through humorous advertising campaigns. After the slogan "What's good about it being free is that we don't have to pay!" which accompanied the arrival of Free. fr, the Crétin. fr advertising campaign designed in 2002 by Publicis Dialog for the Freebox does not fail to leave the audience laughing on the side of the newcomer. An imaginary access provider is portrayed where it is not pleasant to be a subscriber with customers entangled in cables, limited services and collections of bills. . . and, as the final gimmick "cretin. fr, try it, or else with Free. . . ". No need to be an insider to understand the message."

"After investing 22 million in unbundling in 2002 and 80 million in 2003, Iliad is counting on the money raised on the stock market to devote between 100 and 120 million more. While the end of the monopoly and the opening of the telecom market which follows create a formidable air movement translated by the emergence of some one hundred and twenty operators of all sizes, Iliad continues to strengthen in this sector. At the end of 2001, the group acquired One. Tel. Placed in receivership following the difficulties of its Australian parent company, this fixed telecommunications operator then had 480,000 registered customers, of which 180,000 were active with 30 million francs in losses for a turnover of 38 million that year."

"Quickly restructured under the umbrella of Iliad, the company has found profitability again, once its offering was repositioned with an aggressive pricing policy aimed at increasing its market share."