00:00Well, first, investors recognize the success of our previous plan, and then our ambitious agenda, including strategic moves.
00:06As we've consolidated Spain, created Mass Orange, a leader in the Spanish market, which we plan to reconsolidate.
00:13We're growing big in Africa and in Europe, a more mature market.
00:16We're investing more on what we call trust the future around cybersecurity.
00:21And, of course, we have an ambitious agenda to continue to transform the company,
00:24to put customers at the center in the mature market, innovation, and, of course, scale, benefiting from scale.
00:30And is this going to be enough to provide another catalyst hire for the stock?
00:34I mean, I know you probably want the stock to just do what the stock does and you focus on
00:38running the business.
00:39But I ask this because CIC, one analyst last week, downgrading at the end of last week
00:45because of the big 60% run-up that we've seen in the stock over 12 months
00:49and suggesting maybe there's a lack of new catalysts.
00:52Grupo Santander, analysts there, cutting their recommendation to neutral from outperform.
00:57So, I guess from analysts, just this sense of, well, can it keep on being this good in terms of
01:02stock performance?
01:02Well, we're convinced of that.
01:04First of all, we're delivering and we have the success of and we've proved execution.
01:08We have growth pockets.
01:10We are innovating.
01:11And in a very uncertain world, our plan is called Trust the Future.
01:15Why is that?
01:16This is very bold, but there's a lot of uncertainty and we really are a resilient business,
01:22be it because connectivity will remain essential no matter what.
01:26AI, of course, is going to disrupt many industries when investing big on cybersecurity,
01:31on cloud, on trusted solutions for European and African customers,
01:36which we think is really a place to be these days.
01:38What is the biggest growth driver then going forward, Voron?
01:41Is it cybersecurity?
01:42Is it Africa?
01:43Is it something else?
01:44So, Africa is absolutely growing double digit for the past three years
01:48when, of course, Europe is more low single digit
01:51and will continue for the connectivity part of the business.
01:54Very, very competitive.
01:56We've been moving on national consolidation.
01:58We will continue to do so.
02:00We've done a lot of strategic moves in Romania, in Belgium, in Spain.
02:03And, as you know, we're actively discussing in France for the potential takeover of part of SFR.
02:09And, of course, then the growth areas will be trusted cloud, AI,
02:13really focusing on providing secure and trusted services to our customers.
02:17In a very, again, uncertain world, AI is just accelerating the threats as well.
02:21We want to get more of your views on AI, but as you mentioned the deal, SFR,
02:24what is the progress there?
02:26Are you getting closer in that?
02:28There's three partners aiming to take over SFR along with Bouygues.
02:32How close are you to getting a deal across the line?
02:34Well, we submitted an offer with a consortium in it back in October.
02:40We are in due diligence phase.
02:41We're discussing, but at this stage, we haven't found an agreement,
02:44neither on the format nor on the amounts.
02:48And so there is no certainty we will reach an agreement, but we're actively discussing.
02:52It sounds like you're pretty doubtful.
02:53I mean, this is France's second largest telecom company.
02:56I'm not doubtful.
02:57I'm just, I mean, I have to be responsible with the markets.
03:00Is it 50-50 right now?
03:02There is no, I mean, you know, this type of deal.
03:04It's four players discussing one seller.
03:06There's definitely one seller, which is something quite unique in this type of transaction.
03:11But, you know, agreeing on this very complex transaction,
03:14I think everyone agrees on the values that,
03:17and the synergies that the national consolidation would create in France.
03:21So we all know there's value to be created, but then it's a typical negotiation,
03:26so difficult to put a percentage here.
03:29Are telecoms companies more or less, if you talk about sort of vulnerability,
03:34software companies up here, where do telecom companies come in terms of their vulnerability
03:38to AI and disruption from it?
03:40Well, connectivity will be essential no matter what.
03:44And actually, even if AI changes the type of traffic on our network,
03:49and especially with our networks, next generation network, fiber everywhere, 5G,
03:54there is no risk on our fundamentals.
03:56Then AI accelerates cybersecurity, but we think on the contrary,
03:59it's going to be for us a real asset and a real competitive advantage
04:04to deliver trusted connectivity, secured connectivity for consumers and for enterprises.
04:09Our customers these days don't know if they can click, if they can open an email,
04:14if they can open an SMS they receive, and there's really value.
04:17And our networks have the ability to provide more secured and trusted services.
04:22So we think we're really well positioned.
04:24Just slightly tangentially, but kind of around the same idea.
04:28Can Europe rely on Starlink?
04:30Well, I mean, as a telecom service provider, we are also a satellite services provider.
04:36We've been providing satellite services, complementing our terrestrial networks for quite some time.
04:41Now, we're not a satellite operator.
04:43We work with existing constellations.
04:45And, of course, I think we need European solutions, not just American or Asian constellations.
04:52But we are also testing American solutions.
04:55And we've launched an offer in France with Skylo.
04:58In Spain, we're testing Starlink.
05:01So there is no one monopoly in France.
05:03Well, I think Europe needs to have its own solution because, I mean, we've seen that, what happens in Ukraine.
05:12It's very, I mean, satellite communication can be a good backup solution.
05:16And in some very crisis type of environment, it's important to make sure you have a resilient service,
05:22which means you have to have alternatives and plan B, plan A, plan C.
05:28So having only one solution is never a good position to be in.
05:31So you're not experiencing political pressure to cut Starlink out and just to focus on UTILSAT and the others?
05:38No.
05:38If you look at, first of all, the networks we have in Europe, they are very well deployed.
05:43And so we have 99.9% coverage in France.
05:47We have fiber rolled out to 96% of homes.
05:50So satellite would only provide solution for rural areas.
05:54And today, for instance, in France, we have more than 10 million fiber customers when we have, I think, 100
06:01,000 satellite and 5G broadband customers.
06:04So there's no doubt that satellite is only somehow a niche solution, but a very important one for backup and
06:13to provide 100% connectivity.
06:15You've talked about, and the company's talked about trying to, just going back to the AI piece, trying to get
06:19revenues around, what, 600 million euros, AI-generated revenues for the business.
06:23Where specifically, is that correct?
06:25And where does that come from?
06:262025, 300 million value, which is cost avoided and revenue generated, and 600 million, so times two, would be for
06:352028.
06:36Do you see lower headcount on this AI infusion?
06:39Today, what we see, because we have an aging workforce, for instance, in France, we use AI to automate and
06:47to not replace a number of jobs.
06:49We don't really see it. To get the full benefit of AI, especially agentic AI, you really need to redefine
06:55your company processes to change the way you work.
06:58And this is a lot of change management. And in a company like Orange, this is going to take years.
07:03So we don't see impact. And we have an agreement in place, workers' union, where we know what type of
07:08jobs will decrease, but we're also creating new jobs in cybersecurity, in data, in AI.
07:13So for the time being, it's very difficult to assess.
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