Carrefour Mobile. Auchan Telecom. Leclerc Mobile. Everyone tried, none really succeeded. Lidl is preparing to try its luck in turn, with a significant difference, its 100 million users already in its pocket before even launching a single SIM.
According to the Financial Times relayed by UniversFreeboxthe distributor is preparing a deployment in around thirty countries including France, the United Kingdom and Spain. No specific date. No prices announced. Just a clear direction: cheap mobile, in exact continuity with what Lidl has been doing with its products for forty years.
Something that changes compared to competitors
Large stores launching into mobile is not new. Carrefour, Auchan and Leclerc tried it around ten years ago with mixed results, weighed down by complex customer management and a lack of telecoms expertise. Lidl is playing a different card.
The brand is partnering with 1Global, an eSIM specialist, which takes care of all the technical aspects: billing, subscriber management, connectivity. Lidl is not tinkering with a telecoms service in its corner. He subcontracts to someone who knows how to do it. The parent company Schwarz Group even took a 10% stake in 1Global, which seems less like a test than a long-term commitment. In France, 1Global is already a partner of Orange, it is probably this network which would be used.
Lidl Plus as an armed arm
Lidl’s real asset in this story is its Lidl Plus application which claims more than 100 million users in Europe. People who already open it two to three times a week for their shopping. Slipping a mobile plan into this flow is almost free distribution. None of the discount operators that came before started with this kind of installed base.
Moreover, this is not the group’s first foray outside its shelves. Lidl has developed STACKIT, an internal cloud solution that has become commercial, with a data center project in Germany capable of accommodating tens of thousands of graphics cards. Customers include SAP and Bayern Munich. The Schwarz Digits entity brings together all of this, including cybersecurity activities.
Free Mobile set the French market on fire in 2012 with a 2 euro plan. It’s difficult to know what Lidl has in mind, but the brand’s DNA does not leave much room for doubt about the pricing direction.
🟣 To not miss any news on the WorldOfSoftware, follow us on Google and on our WhatsApp channel. And if you love us, .
