Free facts
"Iliad’s Free offering cellular add-on purchases to customers for ridiculous prices, with deals going down to €2-a-month for cellular"
Nope. That's the price for the basic cellular package as a standalone product. If you are an ADSL/fibre subscriber, it is free gratis. The Free/Iliad model is to keep adding new services while keeping the price the same, rather than entering a price war.
"The device uses 802.11N WiFi, so it could follow down the precise same route as Free, offering Wi-Fi First handsets"
Again this strange assertion. I'm a customer, so I should know -- there is no WiFi access to the Free Mobile network. And they don't "offer" handsets at all. They will sell you one, if you like, but at retail price, and they are just bog standard unlocked devices.
-A.