Orange LTE coverage in France reaches 82% of the population
French mobile operator Orange reached 9.4 million LTE subscribers at the end of June, posting 1.4 million net additions during the second quarter of the year, the company said in its earnings statement. Overall mobile connections in France totaled 25.1 million at the end of Q2, up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year.
The company’s LTE network reached 82% of the French population by the end of the quarter, up six percentage points compared to the year-ago quarter. Orange offers LTE in France using spectrum in the 800 MHz and 2.6 GHz bands.
LTE connections also grew in Orange’s other European service areas, with 6.4 million total customers in Spain, 3.2 million customers in Poland, 1.6 million in Romania and 1.2 million in Belgium. Orange said that at the end of June, LTE coverage reached 89% of the population in Spain, 95% in Poland, 99% in Belgium, 74% in Romania, 71% in Slovakia and 95% in Moldova. In the Middle East and Africa, Orange has deployed LTE in Botswana, Jordan, Morocco, Mauritius, Cameroon and Guinea-Bissau.
“In Europe, business was driven by the very high-speed fixed and mobile activities. In one year we have doubled both our fiber customer base to 2.5 million customers as well as our 4G customer base, with nearly 23 million customers,” Orange Group Chairman and CEO Stéphane Richard said. “This good performance underscores the success of our Essentiels2020 strategy of investment in fiber and 4G networks, with strong growth over the period, and in the quality of the customer experience.”
Richard also said the Africa and Middle East region represents a growth area for Orange. At the end of June, the telco had 10.5 million mobile customers in Africa and the Middle East, down 0.4% year-over-year. The telco ended June with 19 million subscribers to its mobile financial services in the region, up 36% year-on-year.
Taking into account Orange’s global operations, mobile customers reached 188.6 million at the end of the quarter, an increase of 1.3% compared to the year-ago period.
The telco’s quarterly revenue amounted to 10.07 billion euros ($11.2 billion), almost flat vs. the same period the previous year. In France, Orange’s revenue totaled 4.68 billion euros in the second quarter, down 1.7% year-on-year. Total capital expenses for Q2 amounted to 1.71 billion euros, which accounted for 17% of revenue.
