Orange ended the first quarter with 7,308,000 IPTV and DTH customers in its home market France.
This, according to the company’s latest set of results, was up from 7,103,000 in the same period last year. However, in Spain the total fell from 705,000 to 698,000 over the same period.
Orange Group as a whole had revenues 1% higher in Q1 than a year earlier, driven by solid growth in Africa and Middle East and improvement in the Enterprise, France and Europe segments. Revenues in Africa and Middle East grew by 6.2%, and in France by 0.5%, with a 2.2% increase in retail services excluding PSTN. Enterprise revenues grew by 0.8% and Europe by 0.3%, while Spain revenues declined by 2.4%.
Orange notes that this momentum occurred against the backdrop of the very beginning of the Covid crisis, which led to a decrease in equipment sales due to the closure of three quarters of Orange stores in European countries from mid-March and a decline in roaming revenues.
In his comments on the results, Orange Group chairman and CEO Stéphane Richard said: “The importance of telecoms in this crisis in ensuring the continued functioning of the economy and of our societies confirms the strategic nature of our activities and provides further confirmation for our strategy in very high-speed networks. Our fibre deployment continues to accelerate with close to 40 million households now connectable to the fibre optic network, underpinning our strong commercial performance. In this quarter the number of fibre customers reached 7.8 million, up 20% and boosted notably by uptake in France which saw a record quarter with 192,000 new subscriptions. In mobile, Orange passed the threshold of 70 million 4G customers, of which 26.5 million are in Africa & Middle East. More than ever, the roll-out of very high-speed mobile coverage throughout our territories remains a priority”.
He added: “The announcement of these results gives me the opportunity to underline how Orange has more than risen to its responsibilities in the face of the health crisis. Rarely in greater demand, our networks have withstood the pressure and allowed us to satisfy the even more than usual essential needs of our retail and business customers. Beyond our day-to-day operations, strengthened by our roots in our local communities, Orange has acted responsibly, contributing 400 million euros in support of collective efforts and cohesion through a wide range of initiatives”.
