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Netflix launches in France, partners with third-largest telco

[September 15, 2014]  PARIS (Reuters) - Netflix launched its video streaming service in France on Monday and teamed up with Bouygues to offer its content on France's third-largest telecom operator's set-top boxes.

California-based Netflix said in a statement its subscriptions would start at 7.99 euros ($10.35) a month and give access to films, series and documentaries on television, computers but also tablets, smartphones and game consoles.

Bouygues Telecom said in a separate statement that it would feature access to Netflix services on its clients' televisions starting in November. It is the first French operator to do so.

Vivendi-owned pay-TV operator Canal Plus has already launched its own streaming video services to blunt Netflix's arrival. So has France's leading telecom player Orange, which said in July it would not market Netflix when it launches.

Beyond France, Netflix is expanding into Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium and Luxembourg this month, taking its international addressable market to more than 180 million broadband households — double the current U.S. market.

In an effort to tailor its services to French tastes, Netflix plans to produce an original series in France, called "Marseille", a political thriller set in the southern port city. It also bought the rights to a French kids cartoon called Wakfu created by an independent studio Ankama in northern France.

(Reporting by Natalie Huet; Editing by Andrew Callus)

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