Free launches Freebox Ultra Wi-Fi 7 box with Canal+ live channel included

French service provider Free, owned by Iliad Telecom, has unveiled its latest Freebox, the Freebox Ultra.

The company has also staked its claim to be the first operator globally to launch Wi-Fi 7 on a large scale with the new device.

Designed for fibre netrworks, the Freebox Ultra supports speeds of up to 8 Gbps for downloads and, for the first time in France, up to 8 Gbps for uploads, according to Free.

Wi-Fi 7 gives speeds of up to 6 Gbps when multiple devices are connected simultaneously, up to five times faster than the Wi-Fi 6 used in the previous Freebox generation.

The Freebox Ultra comes with a top-tier TV package including the Canal+ live channel in the plan – a first for France, according to the company.  The TV by Canal+ and Universal+ services are also included.

Thanks to a OQEE by Free app that comes with the Freebox Ultra users can watch TV in multiple locations, with access to over 280 live TV channels, along with a catalogue of movies at no extra cost.

With the Freebox Ultra, users also have access to Netflix, Amazon Prime, and for the first time in a Freebox plan, Disney+.

A Cafeyn app provides unlimited all-screen access to magazines and newspapers, as well as the Free Ligue 1 app, which subscribers can use to follow all of the matches of the 2023-2024 Ligue 1 Uber Eats championship in France.

The Freebox Ultra offer includes a  new Wi-Fi 7 Repeater, designed by Free. This repeater also has Wi-Fi 7 embedded to extend the Wi-Fi range to all of the subscriber’s home. The Freebox Ultra offer includes up to four Wi-Fi 7 Repeaters.

Free said the new box uses as little electricity as the Freebox Pop, the smallest box offered by the company

The Freebox Ultra also features a new Total Sleep mode so that users can reduce their box’s environmental footprint further.

The Freebox Ultra plan includes a pocket 4G Wi-Fi router that subscribers in fiber-eligible areas can use to connect to Wi-Fi before getting their FTTH connection, with 200GB included. Users can keep their pocket Wi-Fi afterwards to connect up when on the move, such as when they’re on vacation, with 50 GB/month included in the plan.