Hi there I’ve just moved to France. I have a UK mobile. Do I need to buy another mobile ie you can’t operate two numbers on the same phone can you? Also, I need landline phone and TV deal. In UK I use Freeview and Netflix - what’s the equivalent here? I don’t want expensive deals like Sky. Also do you pay a TV license over here? And I need Internet ie high speed Internet/broadband so want a deal with Orange but can’t find an English page on the www.orange.fr website and just wondered if anyone else had gone through this before and could offer advice on which deal to sign up for - I can see one on there for 31.99 euros per month for example, many thanks.
I can only answer re. the phone. Yes you can have two SIMS in one phone - I have a UK and a French sim and it's brilliant, you get calls on both numbers and if you make an outgoing call it asks which SIM you want to use so you can choose the local one. Re. phone/broadband, I'd definitely recommend FT/Orange and just pop into one of their shops. The reason I'd recommend them is, as a newbie, if you get any interruption in service then it's entirely their responsibility and you won't be caught in the "the problem is with your service provider" .... to whom you then phone, and get the reply "nope, not us, it's a physical problem with the phone line". I'd say keep it simple. Good luck.
When we first came to France last year we used http://www.lycamobile.co.uk/en/lyca-2-in-1 - you keep your UK number so those in UK can call you using their call allowance + you can also have a French number for a £1 to use in France. However in our old stone place we couldn't get a signal inside & switched to an Orange deal for everything. Orange English Helpline 09 69 36 39 00.
We had fibre optic fast broadband in UK but had to lower our expectations living in rural Gironde(!), we even tried satellite internet that was useless & expensive re data use. You can have our old one with all the kit for €200 to be cheeky.
Our setup that suits us is:
1. A satellite dish for UK TV through our Humax & another dish for Orange TV.
2. We use StrongVPN for iPlayer & the UK football through our Times sub, Amazon Prime etc.
3. We also pay €26.99 to http://www.uktvfrance.net for more than a complete Sky package over the internet-HD can be a bit dodgy for popular matches but I can switch to Singapore Sport or elsewhere to get a decent picture.
That suits us as Derby County supporters (!) BUT needs differ, of course.
Call 09 69 36 39 00 for the Orange English-language help line (see Useful Links/Get Help
Yes, you pay a TV licence. It's added to your Taxe d'Habitation. €136 last time I looked.
Yes, for UK TV, Freesat and a Humax. For French TV go for TNT which will give you everything you need for free. Reception via an aerial or a dish. If you want more there are paying add-ons or you could go for CanalSat or Canal+ for both of which you pay.
Thanks Roger - that is incredibly helpful. I am in the centre of Uzerche so I think I have access to high speed internet and I only watch things like Ascot Henley and Wimbledon apart from that I just watch Netflix. I don't know what Humax is or how to get strong VPN although I do pay an IT guy for monthly support I am sure he could find out. I will also have other people staying in the summer as the house I am buying has 3 apartments so we will all need to be on it that's another consideration. The most important thing for me is that I run some digital marketing services for Uk clients so need access to internet and often have several windows open at a time. I'll write down what you've said and sort it all out tomorrow as move into my new house on Tuesday!
