France Telecom’s Orange has secured a deal to use rival BT’s fixed-line network as it seeks to boost its position in the UK’s high speed broadband market.
Orange, which became the UK’s largest mobile operator by subscribers after its recent merger with…
France Telecom’s Orange has secured a deal to use rival BT’s fixed-line network as it seeks to boost its position in the UK’s high speed broadband market.
Orange, which became the UK’s largest mobile operator by subscribers after its recent merger with T-Mobile, is abandoning its own network to use BT’s in a move that will almost double its broadband reach and put the group head-to-head with market leaders BT, Virgin Media and TalkTalk.
Orange said customers would stand to benefit as the arrangement will allow it to concentrate on its product offering and customer service.
Households are also likely to see more competition on prices as the major players fight for customers in a hotly contested market.
An Orange spokesman said: “Whilst we have made massive improvements to our network over the past two years, with our new leadership position in the UK market, we don’t just want to provide a good customer experience – we want it to be exceptional.”
They added that the BT deal will allow it to maintain and improve its network performance and “take advantage of future technology developments”, such as home and TV entertainment services, and to expand its fixed broadband service for business customers.
Orange is said to have spent hundreds of millions of pounds installing its own equipment in local exchanges in recent years, but is thought to have faced further significant investment to get the network up to scratch.
Its broadband network is currently believed to cover around 65% of the UK population.
BT will take on the group’s infrastructure and integrate it into its own network as part of the agreement, while 61 Orange staff will also reportedly transfer over to BT.
Orange has nearly 30 million mobile phone customers in the UK after joining forces with T-Mobile, but has slipped behind in broadband with around 840,000 customers.
