Long-anticipated French new-entrant Free Mobile launched officially, aiming to take-on the country’s established operators with what Reuters described as “aggressive offers that sharply undercut rival operators' prices.”

According to the operator’s website, it will offer a EUR19.99 unlimited bundle of SMS/MMS, voice and mobile/Wi-Fi data (with 3GB mobile data limit), discounted to EUR15.99 for users of its Freebox broadband services. It will also offer a 1 hour of voice and 60 SMS bundle for EUR2, which is free to Freebox users.

In both cases, the tariffs are available without minimum contract commitment.

Joss Gillet, senior analyst with Wireless Intelligence, said: "This morning's launch had a sense of French Revolution as [founder] Xavier Niel kept his promise to cut in half mobile tariffs. Free Mobile has changed forever the French market dynamics with the introduction of cheaper and more coherent mobile offers. However, its long-term success will depend on its aptitude to balance margins and network investments as competitors are expected to align their prices rapidly."

Wireless Intelligence previously forecast that Free Mobile will capture a 5 percent share of the French market by the end of 2014.

According to Wireless Intelligence figures, France currently has 63.35 million subscribers, with Orange dominating with a 46.6 percent market share. Number two operator SFR has a 35.5 percent share, with the remaining 17.9 percent held by Bouygues.

Reuters reports that Thomas Reynaud, CFO of the new player, had said that the company can break-even on mobile services with a 4-5 percent market share.

Free Mobile said late in 2011 that it had exceeded its minimum coverage commitments, enabling it to activate national roaming deals to bolster its coverage. Last year, the company acquired 2.6GHz spectrum, suitable for the provision of LTE services.