It is an epiphenomenon with regard to the upheavals that Orange is experiencing. But it is a symbolic announcement. The incumbent operator will close its Parisian flagship in 2023, a store located in the Opera district and inaugurated with great fanfare in 2016, indicates Actu.fr.
A store that was to be “the showcase of everything Orange does”, according to the manager of the mega store, with an area of 2,000 m². And quite precisely, Orange has decided not to do everything, and to refocus its activity on certain know-how: telecom networks, cyber defense and business services. OCS should leave the operator’s portfolio, and Orange Bank no longer seems to be a strategic priority.
The new director general of Orange, Christel Heydemann, wants to refocus the activities of the group, and put an end to the diversification initiated by the previous directions. On February 16, it must unveil its roadmap. But Christel Heydemann has nevertheless already begun to outline her vision, with three strong axes.
Files loaded on the landline
Fixed and mobile telecom networks on the one hand. In 10 years, Orange has deployed 60% of optical fiber in France, assures the operator, even if the deployment is still stuck in certain territories and Arcep is glaring. This market share gives it a competitive advantage to reach the 11 million French people who do not yet have a fiber box at home.
Even on the aging copper network (-15% in 2021), Christel Heydemann wants to be offensive. As Arcep has not revised the wholesale copper network prices for 2022 and 2023, the CEO of Orange announced last week in the Senate that she was preparing litigation against the regulatory authority. These wholesale tariffs, known as “unbundling”, are the price paid by other commercial operators (SFR, Free and Bouygues Telecom) to Orange to use its pipes in order to market ADSL subscriptions. And Orange faces an increase in maintenance costs for this network.
Finally, on mobile, Arcep ensures that Orange offers the best network for mobile web browsing, voice and SMS.
Who says refocusing also says shedding
On the other hand, Orange Business Services should ramp up (read: “Orange repatriates all of its IS to its new generation datacenters”) and evolve towards cybersecurity offers. 600 people should be recruited in France in 2023 to strengthen the cyber offer of Orange Cyberdéfense, and strengthen the 2,700 current employees.
And who says refocusing also says shedding. The world claims that Orange is preparing to sell OCS, its competing streaming platform to Netflix and Orange Studio. Canal+, already a 34% shareholder, has decided to take over the platform. On the banking side, despite 1.4 million customers, Orange Bank has accumulated 880 million euros in losses since its creation in November 2017. But the time would not be for sale. With 2.6 million customers, Orange Bank nevertheless remains the 3e digital bank of France.