Orange has announced that it now has 6 million fibre customers in its home market France. Furthermore, it is connecting up to 10,000 more each day.
Orange adds that the fibre rollout in France is an industrial project on an exceptional scale, both in terms of volume and intensity. At the end of 2021, using its own funds and in partnership with local authorities, it had deployed fibre to 63% of the 29 million premises eligible for FTTH in France. With a 20% increase in the number of premises in one year, France is now Europe’s leading country for fibre.
Commenting on the milestone, Fabienne Dulac, CEO of Orange France, said” “With 6 million customers, I am delighted about the widespread adoption of fibre. This result reflects the full mobilization of all the Orange France technical and sales teams and those of its partners across all our regions. Over half of all Orange internet customers in France now enjoy fibre in the home or in their place of work. This success is based on our position as the leader in the deployment and our ability to connect 10,000 customers every day”.
Orange says it will continue to work this year in all the zones where it is responsible for fibre deployment, both in highly populated zones and AMII zones. In AMII (call for expression of investment interest) zones, with over 11 million connectable households at the end of 2021, Orange exceeded the initial target, based on the INSEE database.
Orange chairman and CEO, Stéphane Richard, added” “Orange and France gambled on optical fibre over ten years ago now. A gamble that has paid off as France is currently the leading European country for fibre with it now available to 70% of the country, a feat made possible in large part by the men and women at Orange who have already deployed 63% of the existing FTTH lines. Every day, our employees and partners help to build the network we will use for the next 50 years”.