The Group has already invested nearly €3 million annually in its network and infrastructure to
provide its retail and business customers with the best possible quality of service. With this new program, the Group does not foresee any substantial changes to its investment in France, where a large proportion is, and will continue to be, allocated to modernizing and maintaining its network and service infrastructure.
This ambitious program will benefit from the lessons learned during the Group's pre-deployment phase, which was carried out in collaboration with other operators and overseen by ARCEP since 2007. As of
September 30, 2009, Orange had 33,000 customers subscribed to its fiber optic services in France.
In this way, Orange is fulfilling the French authorities' ambition to deploy a very high-speed broadband network throughout the country, with the aim of facilitating the development of digital communication tools and maintaining a competitive edge.