LA TRIBUNE SUNDAY – A year and a half after the launch of your strategic plan for 2025, have the objectives been met?
CHRISTEL HEYDEMANN – The results are positive, as evidenced by the good results for the second quarter. Our job is absolutely essential. But difficult, because we operate at the heart of an ultra-competitive sector, in a very fragmented European and French market, where critical size matters more than ever. Remember, among other specificities, that subscriptions in France remain the cheapest in Europe. In this context, Orange must make the right choices, while respecting security and resilience issues. Several operators have opted for several years to sell some of their key infrastructures, such as mobile network towers. On the contrary, we wanted to keep ours, a decision welcomed by investors. In Africa, where the group has had a strong presence for a long time, the strong growth dynamic continues: Orange is a lever for economic development, from which it also benefits. Diversification into cybersecurity is proving to be a success, since this activity now generates more than 1 billion euros in turnover. The refocusing on our business as a telecom operator, with the disposals of Orange Bank and OCS, has proven its relevance.
SFR, the weak link in telecoms
Next January, just over 160 municipalities will permanently abandon the copper telephone network, and therefore ADSL, and switch to fiber. How is this historic shift shaping up?
This is a colossal program that mobilizes the entire group. We need the trust of local communities. This first batch of municipalities follows several experiments carried out upstream in order to validate our organization. This first step is important: the timetable will accelerate in the years to come, with more than 800 other municipalities concerned at the start of 2026, then nearly 2,200 a year later. In 2030, the copper network, which represents 1.1 million kilometers, will be completely closed. For the general public, this decommissioning is transparent, with offers that allow you to find the same telephone and Internet services offered on copper, but on a more efficient network. The need for support is, however, greater for certain companies and local administrations, whose installations sometimes rely completely on the copper network. This category of customers represents the real challenge of this shift.
Video uses capture the majority of bandwidth, without major services like Google or Netflix taking their share of the infrastructure costs to absorb this traffic. What about this issue, the “ fair share » ?
Relations are clearly improving in this area, particularly with Meta and Google. We work within an increasingly common logic. For large video platforms, like Netflix, the work is now going through technical optimization which has already saved us almost 20% of bandwidth. But the massive arrival of artificial intelligence services heralds another revolution, likely to have major consequences on our bandwidth needs. With two major new features that we will have to manage: the needs of AI services in terms of upstream traffic – a novelty compared to the current situation, where we mainly manage downstream traffic -, with video reaching the user final. The other big change we need to prepare for is the response time requirements of AI. Tomorrow, with voice-driven services, network latency will have to be massively reduced for these conversational services to be fluid. We regularly meet with major global AI players to estimate these future needs. This is a huge challenge, because it is very difficult to model them as it stands. We must build a new economic model.
What do you think of European regulation regarding artificial intelligence?
European competitiveness is a subject of concern for many industrial groups today. AI drives efficiency. The speed of technological development complicates regulation. Europe must not confine itself to certain traditional sectors, but move towards the future. AI will play a major role in this.
Large companies will be called upon to participate in the recovery of public finances. Does this worry you?
We are aware that everyone must make an effort, but growth and competitiveness depend on investment dynamics. We must not stop it. Businesses must retain the ability to invest. In the digital sector in France, telecom operators already represent 40% of revenues, 79% of investments and 83% of taxes…
Since your arrival at the head of the group, in April 2022, what have you discovered?
The importance of its internal culture, without a doubt. Firstly because it differs from that of my former group, which was more industrial. Then because it is both intangible and crucial to understand. Codes, words, ways of doing things, everything counts. At Orange, perhaps more than elsewhere, employees are viscerally attached to the group and its culture. This is why the JOPs were a unique moment for the teams. Both by the technical feat, since we were the only telecom operator at this gigantic event, instead of five at the Tokyo Games, and by the highlighting during these two fortnights of everything that is “hidden” in our profession, which is less noticeable from day to day, but on which everything is based.
In February, the European Commission gave the green light to Orange’s merger with MásMóvil in Spain. Where are you in this market?
After two years of discussions, this merger is a success. Spain is the second country in the group. A key market, but marked by very strong competition and regular customer losses for all operators, what in the sector we call the “ churn “. Restoring our position there was a priority. Today we are number one in number of customers.
Related News :