Do I need a French bank account first?

In practice yes. Operators ask for bank details because plans are billed by monthly direct debit. Open the account first, then the phone plan: doing it in that order saves you a second trip.

Sans engagement or a 24-month plan?

For a year abroad, sans engagement. A commitment locks you in for up to 24 months and you can be billed the remaining months if you leave early, which is exactly what happens when your exchange ends in June. If an operator only shows you a 24-month price, ask for the 12-month version: the law requires it to exist on the same commercial terms.

Does my plan work when I travel in Europe?

Across the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and since January 2026 Ukraine and Moldova, yes, at your normal French rates with nothing to switch on. The United Kingdom and Switzerland are outside the rules, so check what your operator charges there before you travel.

What do I do with the plan when I leave France?

Cancel it online. Every operator must offer a free termination button on the site or app where you subscribed. Do it before you fly rather than after, and if you were under commitment, expect to settle the months left on it.

My phone rings all day with numbers I don't know.

That got a lot better on 11 August 2026, when cold calling without prior consent became illegal in every sector and the old Bloctel opt-out list stopped being necessary. Report what still gets through to 33700: forward the SMS with no comment added, or text spam vocal followed by the number.

Survival Guide

Phone Operators

A French number is not about calling home. It is the address every French service uses to reach you: the code that validates a card payment, the callback from the prefecture, the SMS that confirms a doctor's appointment. Sorting it out takes one visit and three documents.

The short version

Operators ask for three documents, and the rest is regulated. Plan prices are not, and they change constantly, so compare current offers on the operators' own sites.

0Documents to subscribe: ID, proof of address, bank details

0Working days to move your number to a new operator

0Months of commitment, the legal maximum

0Days to change your mind, if you signed up online

Why you need a French number

Your bank will text youFrench banks confirm card payments and app logins by SMS to the number on file. A foreign number often works, but not always, and finding out at the checkout is a bad moment. The same goes for the codes that open your Ameli, impots, and Crous accounts.

Admin calls backThe Caf, the prefecture, the Crous, a landlord, an employer, an internship supervisor: all of them ring rather than email, and several will not dial an international number. A French mobile is the line that gets answered.

Daily life runs on SMSDoctolib appointment reminders, parcel delivery codes, the two-factor code for a marketplace account, the message from the pharmacy. Small things, until one of them is the medical appointment you waited three weeks for.

Getting a French SIM

Decide whether to be tied down

Plans come sans engagement, cancellable whenever you like, or with a commitment capped at 24 months. If an operator sells you a 24-month deal it must also offer the same service over 12 months on identical commercial terms, so ask. For an exchange year, sans engagement is almost always the right answer.

The operators

OrangeNetwork operator, shops across Toulouse.
SFRNetwork operator, shops across Toulouse.
Bouygues TelecomNetwork operator, shops across Toulouse.
Free MobileNetwork operator, sold mainly online and through its own stores.
SoshOrange's online-only brand, same network, no shop and no phone support.
RED by SFRSFR's online-only brand, same network, no shop and no phone support.
B&YouBouygues Telecom's online-only brand, same network, no shop and no phone support.
PrixtelOperates on other companies' networks, with plans that adjust to what you actually use.
LycamobileOperates on another company's network, built around cheap international calling.
Mon réseau mobile, ArcepThe regulator's official coverage map. Enter an address and compare all four networks on it before you sign anything.

Living with a French phone

Europe at home ratesYour French plan works at French prices across the 27 EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, and since 1 January 2026 in Ukraine and Moldova too. Calls, texts and data all count against your normal allowance, with nothing to activate.

The gaps in that mapThe United Kingdom left the arrangement with Brexit, and Switzerland was never in it. Some operators still include one or both for free, and some charge painfully, so check your own plan before a weekend in London or Geneva rather than after.

Fair use, in plain termsEuropean roaming is meant for travel, not for living abroad on a French plan. An operator can only act after watching four months and finding you spent more days abroad than in France and used more data abroad than at home, and it must then give you 15 days' notice before charging anything.

Check the network, not the brandThe low-cost brands run on their parent's network, so coverage is identical and only the price and the support differ. What does vary is which of the four networks works best at your address. The Arcep's Mon réseau mobile compares them street by street.

Cancelling takes three clicksAny contract you can sign online, you can end online. Since 2023 every operator must give you a free, permanent and obvious button to do it, labelled résilier votre contrat. Sans engagement, that is the whole procedure. Under commitment, you may still owe the remaining months.

112 and 114112 is the emergency number across the whole European Union, free and geolocated, so it is the one to remember in any language. If you are deaf, hard of hearing or unable to speak, 114 takes SMS, chat and video calls day and night.

Spam, and the end of cold callsSince 11 August 2026 a company may not call you without your prior consent, which lasts a year at most and can be withdrawn mid-call. For the calls and texts that come anyway, forward the SMS to 33700, or text 33700 the words spam vocal and the number that rang you.

Frequently asked questions

No. Number portability only works between French operators, so a foreign number cannot be moved onto a French plan. The usual arrangement is to keep your home SIM for messaging your family and add a French number for everything that happens here, which a dual-SIM phone handles without you thinking about it.

Which operator?

Ask the community on WhatsApp

This page is written and kept current by AEGEE Toulouse, the volunteer association that's welcomed international students to Toulouse since 2025. Plan prices move every few weeks and the best deal in September is rarely the best deal in January. Ask in the AEGEE Toulouse WhatsApp group what people are actually paying this term, and which shop dealt with them in English.

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