The France Telecom IPTV juggernaut continued its path through Europe during 2010. The telco has announced it held a total of 4,118,000 subscribers as of December 31, 2010, including 3,505,000 in France itself, with Poland taking up much of the remaining numbers that also include satellite subscribers.
At the same time it has emerged that Technicolor is in pole position to produce the new version of the Livebox decoder, scheduled to launch in 2012, and capable of connecting to the internet, watching TV, and playing video games. Confirmation that Technicolor and France Telecom were in advanced discussions was confirmed on Wednesday after an initial denial of a story in Le Figaro.
It will be a return to the fold for Technicolor, the former Thomson Multimedia, which made the Livebox up to 2007, before losing out to Sagem. Two years later Samsung was added as Orange diversified its suppliers.
It is hoped that the new unit will counter the new Freebox, announced by rival Iliad in December.
Separately, Stephane Richard has been confirmed as named chairman and chief executive officer of France Telecom-Orange. Didier Lombard becomes Special Adviser to Stephane Richard on the strategic options and technological outlook for the Group.
