@Badger, @karenlot, @david_gillies -
Thank you for your comments. I’ve now gone through the Sosh process online and I’m now awaiting the actual changeover. It picked up that I was an existing Orange customer and had my bank details on hand to change the prélevement.
I have also changed from my existing mobile contract with Free (useless reception where I live) to Sosh. The best news is that Sosh will deal with closing the Free account. I’m keen to see if that goes smoothly!
So, and I may be being naive here, but if Sosh is Orange by another name why is one almost half the price of the other? Are there features that come included with Orange that aren’t available with Sosh or such, is there a difference in the offerings or is it really just a case of inertia means that even though there is the exact same thing available just with a different name most people don’t switch?
Orange has a pretty good telephone service centre, including a dedicated English language one.
Sosh only provide customer service via email or AI-based web chat.
That seems to be the most significant difference. In addition, Sosh offer a rolling monthly agreement rather than a fixed-term contract so it’s much easier to leave should you decide to do so.
Ssshhhh 
no Brian… it’s Sosh
gets 
That’s great, thank you @_Brian! I felt a bit cheeky asking you that as if you were a telecoms salesman, but as you’ve just made the move I thought you’d know! It says about using a livebox, I assume you just keep the existing one rather than having to send one back and get another one? I must admit I have been completely lazy in this respect and stayed with Orange just, ‘cause, laziness, so I’m very keen to hear how you find it all.
Damned autocorrect 
You don’t expect someone to actually take half a second and read through the thread before foolishly blurting out whatever’s in their head do you? 
I’ll let you know!
I’ll also update this thread to report on how smoothly the transition goes. If it descends into nonstop swearing then suddenly cuts out assume I’m having problems 
IIRC you send the Deadbox back and get anew one in return… otherwise their systems descend into anarchy!
The inbound and outbound exchanges don’t necessarily occur concurrently… you have some time to return the old one IIRC.
@kirsteastevenson - did you ever get round to sampling the coffee from Grains d’Aromes in Le Dorat?
Sounds perfectly french!
You can repost your previous comment to me @graham as I’ve just seen @Badger’s comment further up that says about posting one back and getting another
I DID! Thank you for the recommendation! I’ve only tried the Malabar and the Ethiopian one so far and loved both. I must get some more. Martial is a lovely chap, couldn’t be more helpful!
I feared that might be the case - but it does reassure me that I’m still in France! I’ve received no exchange instructions yet but I’m sure they’ll come.
Sosh doesn’t offer the “bouquets” of foreign-language television like the German bouquet my wife likes to watch. So we’re stuck with Orange.
personally, never considered Orange “fragrant” 
Can you share some of which channels precisely is your wife able to get with Orange that are in these Bouquets / Packages, that are not in Sosh?
I’m now one month into my contact with Sosh and all is going well. The Orange contact was terminated correctly without me having to do anything.
There has been no mention of returning my Orange router nor obtaining a Sosh one. My Sosh account online accurately reports that I’m using a Livebox 4.
The only changes are that I now pay 23€ per month less and any issues have to be dealt with through the website rather than Orange’s English helpline.
I guess Sosh swapped out my Livebox 2 for a 4 in order to ensure a decent service via a better box. As you had a 4 already they had no need to change it.
Another reason might be that my old Livebox 2 was rented from Orange, whereas Sosh give you theirs as part of the deal.