France Telecom-Orange outlined a five year strategic plan to transform its corporate culture and conquer near markets and new business opportunities in the coming digital economy of billions of interconnected devices. The plans were disclosed by Stéphane Richard, who said the company faced unprecedented social crisis in France,
a fast-changing ecosystem as technological development continues to accelerate, and a tense competitive and regulatory environment. Richard took over management of the company earlier this year.
A key element of the plan is that Orange plans to grow its customer base from close to 200 million at present to 300 million by 2015 across its entire footprint. The company is ruling out any "transformational deals."
conquests 2015 is based on four strategic principles:
the conquest of the employee pride. Orange aims first and foremost to win over the men and women that form the heart of the company. The Group is committed to offering its employees a beneficial working environment thanks to a new vision of human resources, a new management style and shared values. The company has already acted on this commitment through the creation of Orange campus. This aims to build a community of managers from January 2011 in Paris and later that spring in Serock (Poland), Madrid, Bordeaux, Marseille, Nancy, Rennes and six other locations outside Europe (Atlanta, Dakar, Nairobi, New Delhi, Rio and Singapore). Secondly, the IT systems, which have become increasingly complicated over the years, will be greatly simplified or entirely overhauled in certain cases. Finally, to address the challenge posed by the rising average age of employees in France, the Group plans to recruit 10,000 additional employees from 2010 to end 2012. The measures set-out in the Group's new social contract for France represent a total budget of 900 million euros over the same period, excluding anticipated savings from the part-time for seniors plan and natural attrition.
the conquest of networks. Orange reaffirms that its networks are its core business and its future and is committed to increase coverage and bandwidth for both fixed and mobile networks, in both mature and emerging countries.
In France, Orange will invest two billion euros by 2015 to deploy a new fibre optic network. This will guarantee coverage for 40% of households through coverage in every region of mainland France by 2012 and in every département by 2015 (including the three overseas territories).
The Group also said it is ready to launch LTE as soon as the regulations are in place.
Orange will also invest in the monetization of mobile data traffic as well as in the deployment of "green" networks such as the Oryx program of solar-powered mobile telephone masts in Africa.
the conquest of customers. Orange aims to be "the people's operator that speaks to everyone, and it must inspire confidence." In order to regain the trust of its customers, Orange said it must first improve the quality of service and customer relations, particularly by placing a higher value in the loyalty of its existing customers. The Group's ambition is to offer a superior customer experience compared to other operators in every respect. This includes the analysis and anticipation of needs, technical support, assisted migration to new services, control over expenses, etc.
Orange also aims to become a "multimedia coach" for its customers by working alongside them to make their digital life easier. The company will continue its strategy of growth through innovation whether by providing the best possible voice quality, putting additional features in the SIM card, or by developing new services such as Orange Care (warranty, insurance and online support).
the conquest of international development. The Group has also set its sights on reviving a spirit of growth through international development. This will be based on the same acquisition policy as before and rules out any "transformational" deals. Sales are expected to double over the next five years in emerging markets.
http://www.francetelecom.comFor Q1 2010, the France Telecom Group
reported revenues of 10.96 billion euros, down 2.7% compared to a year earlier. Excluding the impact of regulatory measures, the company said its decrease would have been 0.3%. EBITDA was 3.76 billion euros, a margin of 34.3%, down 1 point on a comparable basis.
"The Group again proved its ability to maintain its performance in terms of revenues and profitability against the backdrop of an economic and regulatory environment that remains difficult. France saw a slight improvement in revenues and the resumption of the fiber optic network deployment in more than 20 cities and towns," stated Stéphane Richard, Chief Executive Officer of France Telecom.
Some highlights:
- The group now has 123.7 million mobile customers and 13.5 million broadband subscribers.
- In the Enterprise segment, revenues fell 6.1% (excluding equipment sales), marked by the migration towards Internet usage and the persistent slowdown in the services business.
- CAPEX of 874 million euros: the CAPEX rate to revenues was 8.0%, compared with 9.9% in the first quarter of 2009 on a comparable basis.
- CAPEX was stable in France. Investment in 3G mobile services increased in order to support the growth in data service volumes.
- The Group confirms its annual CAPEX rate objective of about 12% of revenues.
- France Telecom expects to ramp-up its FTTH rollout in France in the second half.
Anssi Vanjoki acknowledged that the company is a challenger now and that it has a real fight on its hands. In a blog entry, Vanjoki writes that the first battle will be to deliver products and services that the consumer wants to own and use. Symbian and MeeGo will form the backbone of Nokia Mobile Solutions.http://conversations.nokia.com/2010/07/02/the-fightback-starts-now/
