(Telecompaper) French operator Free's (Iliad) revenue rose by 6.9 percent to EUR 2.16 billion in the first half, compared to EUR 2.02 billion in the year-earlier period. Growth was driven by the mobile segment, which increased its sales by 18.1 percent to EUR 880.4 million. Landline revenue (fixed voice, internet, TV) rose by 0.5 percent to EUR 1.29 billion. Free added 820,00 mobile subscribers in the first half, reaching a total of nearly 11 million. This gives it an estimated 16 percent mobile market share in just over three years since launch. It had 2.4 million 4G users at the end of June, consuming an average of 2.2 GB of data per month. Free also added 123,000 net broadband customers, representing an estimated 36 percent share of France's net adds in the period. The group had 5.99 million broadband customers at the end of June. Free increased its profitability sharply, with an over 65 percent rise in first half consolidated EBITDA to EUR 725 million. Its EBITDA margin grew by 2.7 percentage points to 33.6 percent. Net profit rose by 17.2 percent to EUR 162.9 million.