Telecom network operator Orange has made an investment of €1.56 billion or $1.76 billion (+7.6 percent) in networks in the third quarter of 2015, while the nine months Capex was €4.235 billion or $4.79 billion (+6.9 percent).

Orange, in line with the Essentiels2020 strategic plan, made 57 percent increase in investment in fiber in the first nine months of 2015, principally in Europe and France.

Thanks to its Capex (capital spending) plan, fiber connectivity reached 4.6 million households in France 5.2 million households in Spain and 400,000 households in nine cities of Poland.

In Poland, more than 4.6 million households were eligible for VDSL.

Orange 4G coverage reached 77 percent of the population in France, 82 percent in Spain, 79 percent in Poland, 97 percent in Belgium, 71 percent in Romania and 63 percent in Slovakia. It deployed 4G+ in half of the 4G sites in 14 largest cities in France.

Orange made investments in 3G networks across all countries in the Africa & Middle East. Orange 4G LTE is present in four countries such as Mauritius, Botswana, Jordan and Morocco.

The main focus of Orange was in making investment in improvements to the customer experience, particularly in France, with the development of indoor coverage, programs for coverage of motorways, metros and TGV trains, and the creation of a new coverage plan for white areas.

Orange has also invested in store modernization in several European countries.

The Group increased the capacity of the SEA-ME-WE 3 and 4 cables linking Europe to the Middle East and Asia, deployed the new SEAME-WE 5 cable and the Americas II cable (the latter connects the Caribbean to Florida and Brazil), and connected Benin and the Canary Islands to the ACE submarine cable.

Orange chairman and CEO Stephane Richard said: “Our return to growth in revenue and restated EBITDA validates our strategy of differentiation through quality and investment and confirms the positive momentum generated over almost two years.”

Orange has more than 263 million customers worldwide with 111 million in Africa & Middle East. In France and the rest of Europe, Orange has 15 million 4G customers and 17 million in fixed broadband, of which 1.5 million use fiber.

The Q3 2015 revenue of Orange rose 0.5 percent to €10,284 million. Orange generated €4,794 million revenue from France, €2,652 million from Europe, €1,216 million from Spain, €709 million from Poland, €306 million from Belgium & Luxembourg and €421 million from Central European countries.

Baburajan K
[email protected]