France Telecom CEO Didier Lombard introduced a new management team to accelerate the implementation of the company's NExT program.
Four functions are created around the Chief Executive Officer to drive the implementation of NExT and ensure its success:
- NExT Financial Balance and Value Creation, headed by Michel Combes, will ensure that the Group meets its commitments in terms of financial targets and value creation;
- NExT Strategic Marketing, headed by Georges Penalver, will create Group-wide strategic marketing, supported by a " Technocentre ", ensuring speed and consistency in the development of convergent offers;
- NExT Transformation, headed by Louis-Pierre Wenes, will guarantee the progress and coherence of all essential transformation programs for the operational success of NExT, and ensure that the objectives are met within the defined timeframe;
- NExT Human Resources and Skills, headed by Olivier Barberot, will drive development and evolution of the skills of employees and management, in particular with the "ACT" program: Anticipation, Competence for Transformation.
To reinforce the Group's internationalization, two new teams will report to Didier Lombard.
- International Strategy Development, led by Sanjiv Ahuja, will focus on analyzing opportunities for international development and monitoring the internationalization of the Group's organization, culture and environment.
- Group Globalization and Cohesiveness, led by Michel Davancens, will aim to identify new talents throughout the Group, and accelerate best practice exchange between all Group entities.
- In June 2005, France Telecom's NExT (New Experience in Telecom services)) is a three-year initiative that will leverage both its legacy brands (France Telecom, TP, etc.) and Orange, provide customers with a personalized portal for all their communications, introduce new services, and integrate all of the company's networks under a single management system. The company will use the Orange brand for its mobile, broadband and enterprise services globally.
With the move to converged services, France Telecom will adopt a number of flat-rate pricing plans with unlimited on-network communications. These include the launch next month of a "Family Talk" service with unlimited, 24/7 communication between a family's fixed and mobile devices for EUR 39 per month, and "LiveCom," a software application integrating voice, videotelephony and instant messaging between fixed-line terminals, mobiles and videophones. A "HomeZone" service is expected to launch in 2006, bridging mobile and broadband services. The "MaLigne" TV-over-DSL service, which has been available in France since late 2003, will be rolled out in the UK, Spain, the Netherlands and Poland by mid-2006.
