Netflix wins carriage with Bouygues as it launches in France

French service provider Bouygues Telecom has broken ranks with other platform operators in the country to make Netflix available via its set-top boxes from November.

Netflix is available in France as of today, priced at €7.99 a month. In addition to the forthcoming launch on Bouygues’ Bbox platform, the service can be accessed via tablets, smartphones, computers, smart TVs from LG, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony and Toshiba and PS3, PS4, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360 and Xbox One game consoles. It is also available via Blu-ray players from LG, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba and the Apple TV and Google Chromecast streaming devices.

The agreement with Bouygues is especially significant as most French viewers consume VoD via set-top boxes. Bouygues Telecom said the service would be available via the Bbox Sensation devices and the next generation of its Android-based boxes.

“We are proud to bring the future of television to France,” said CEO Reed Hastings. “French television viewers are going to be able to instantly access a multitude of films and series, where and when they want.”

Hastings told French press that Netflix is still in discussion with other operators in the country. Orange and Free have so far declined to add Netflix to their offerings on the ground that the conditions proposed by the SvoD provider did not make it economically viable.

Hastings said that Netflix would also commission more French originals in addition to its existing plan to make political drama Marseille.

In addition to Netflix originals including Orange is the New Black and Hemlock Grove, the launch will also see the arrival of drama series Fargo in France for the first time, along with From Dusk Till Dawn and Penny Dreadful.

In addition to Hollywood movies and series, Netflix will show iconic French movies including À Bout de Souffle, Le Mépris, Actrices, Fais pas ci, fais pas ça and recent series Un Village Français.

Netflix is to launch in Germany tomorrow. According to a report last week in business weekly WirtschaftsWoche, citing unnamed sources, the company will partner with Deutsche Telekom to reach end users, while Vodafone has also been named as a potential partner.