Orange: fiber optic coverage of (moderately) dense areas by mid-2022
Stéphane Richard, CEO of Orange, announces that his group will offer full fiber optic coverage for dense and moderately dense areas by mid-2022. He made this statement during an interview with The gallery.
“We are at a crucial moment, with an acceleration of trends towards digitization. 75% of companies, all sectors combined, consider that the crisis will accelerate digital transformation ”, emphasizes Stéphane Richard. He adds : “All dense cities and moderately dense areas will be fiber by mid-2022. 90% will already be equipped by the end of 2021 ”.
According to him, Orange must deploy 6.2 million outlets in 2021. This includes 500,000 outlets in very dense areas, 400,000 in AMEL zones (Call for Manifestation of Local Commitments), 1.8 million in AMII zones (Call at Manifestation of Intention of Investment) and 3.6 million in RIP zones. For 2022, the total number will increase to 5.8 million. And for 2025, it will be 6.5 million additional sockets to put in place.
“Over the past ten years, the telecoms industry has invested $ 2.7 trillion globally. Operators in France invested 10 billion euros in 2019, which is almost eight times more than the motorways ”, said Stéphane Richard. He also notes that France “Is the first fiber country in Europe today”. He mentions 25 million households that can be connected to fiber, including 16 million that have been connected thanks to Orange.
