Orange Spain is stepping up its investments in 4G and fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) in order to support its ambition to become a strong converged player on the Spanish market.
The company, which completed the acquisition of Spanish fixed-line provider Jazztel in August, said it would spend between €1.5 billion ($1.6 billion) and €1.7 billion on FTTH coverage, and is also pursuing a €1.5 billion investment programme for 4G.
The company's goal is to reach 95 per cent population coverage with its 4G network in 2017. At the end of 2015, Orange's 4G network is expected to provide coverage in 1,300 cities across Spain and cover 85 per cent of the population.
The fibre network currently reaches 5.2 million households and is expected to reach 10 million in 2016. Orange said it has now increased its deployment ambition in Spain by 40 per cent, and will progressively increase its coverage to reach 14 million households by the end of 2020, covering 80 per cent of all Spanish cities with more than 20,000 inhabitants.
"Both deployment programs, in FTTH and 4G networks, are part of Orange's strategy to invest in very high-speed broadband networks in order to meet strong demand from customers for content and services," the company said.
Orange Spain competes with Movistar, Vodafone Spain and Yoigo in a market that has traditionally placed a strong focus on multi-play or quad-play bundles of fixed and mobile services.
The France-based Orange Group recently said Spain was one of its strongest performing markets, along with France, Belgium, Central Europe, and Africa and the Middle East.
In October, the group unveiled sweeping changes to its top management structure with a focus on Spain and MEA, appointing Laurent Paillassot as the new CEO of Orange Spain to replace Jean-Marc Vignolles.
At the time, Orange said its subsidiary in Spain was set to become "the most dynamic convergent player in the Spanish market" with the acquisition of Jazztel, and represented more than 10 per cent of group revenue.
For more:
- see this Orange release
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