France Telecom-Orange has unveiled a five-year action plan called ‘Conquests 2015’ and featuring its objective of increasing its worldwide customer base to 300 million by 2015, versus around 200 million customers at present. The operator’s group-wide industrial project is aimed at setting out the challenges and perspectives that lie ahead, clarifying its business activities and regaining a sense of conquest and pride within the company. First of all, Orange aims to win over, or ‘conquer’, its employees by offering them a beneficial working environment thanks to a new vision of human resources, new management style and shared values. It has created Orange Campus, which will build a community of managers from January 2011 in Paris and in spring 2011 in Serock, Poland, Madrid, Bordeaux, Marseille, Nancy, Rennes and six other locations outside Europe (Atlanta, Dakar, Nairobi, New Delhi, Rio and Singapore). Staff will benefit from IT systems being 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 by the end 2012. The measures set out in the group's new social contract for France represent a total budget of EUR 900 million over the same period, excluding anticipated savings from the part-time for seniors plan and natural attrition.
Secondly, in its ‘conquest’ of networks, the group intends to invest EUR 2 billion by 2015 in deploying fibre in France guaranteeing coverage for 40 percent of homes and a presence in every region by 2012 and every department by 2015. LTE will be launched as soon as regulations are in place. Orange will also invest in the monetisation of mobile data traffic as well as in the deployment of green networks such as the Oryx programme of solar-powered mobile masts in Africa. To conquer more customers, targeting 300 million customers across its global footprint by 2015 versus around 200 million at present, the company will continue its strategy of growth through innovation such as providing the best possible voice quality, putting additional features in the SIM card, and developing new services such as Orange Care (warranty, insurance and online support). Orange is also developing products in healthcare and education as well as mobile payment or money transfer services such as its Orange Money programme in Africa. In terms of conquering international development, the group has ruled out any ‘transformational deals’ but will maintain its existing acquisition policy to meet its target of doubling sales in emerging markets over the next five years. The financial details of these four strategic directions will be worked out during phase two of the project, which runs from mid-July to autumn 2010.
France Telecom reiterated its objectives to generate an organic cash flow of EUR 8 billion for 2010 and 2011, excluding the acquisition of spectrum or licences and ongoing litigation concerning corporate tax and including the benefits and net expenses of the "Conquests 2015" project. All other aspects of the group's financial policy remain unchanged. Stephane Richard told Le Parisien before the 5-year strategy announcement that France Telecom's workforce would be stabilised this year, after 15 years of steady contraction, but that there would be significant recruitment in France in the next few years to offset the departure of staff set to retire by 2018. When asked about the group's content strategy, Richard said he preferred technical or commercial partnerships, possibly completed by buying a minority stake. He added that Orange did not want to go it alone for the next League 1 football rights auction for the 2012 season and beyond, having paid EUR 203 million for some exclusive rights in 2006. Since Le Monde turned down Orange's joint bid with Nouvel Observateur owner Claude Perdriel and Prisa, the operator has no other plans to invest in the written press, but does not rule out looking at any future opportunities that may arise.
