Immersive Streaming Experiences Thanks to Orange's 5G Network
Orange is making the official app that will have instant updates on sports events in French and English for people in the stadiums.
Highlights
Orange's ORAN 0.00%↑ 5G technology promises seamless communication and immersive viewing experiences for spectators.
Orange sponsors events like the Paris 2024 Marathon Pour Tous, making the Olympics accessible to all people.
Orange is committed to reducing carbon emissions and implementing eco-friendly practices, setting new standards for sustainability in major events.
Orange ORAN 0.00%↑ stands tall as a leader in the world of technology and connectivity. With a rich history of supporting major sporting events worldwide, including Roland-Garros, the Tour de France, the African Cup of Nations, the Women's World Cup, and the Rugby World Cup, Orange is now a key Premium Partner of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. This is a big moment because it's the first time one company is responsible for connecting so many sports events, places, and athletes. According to the French newspaper Le Parisien, Orange is spending €144 million (US$167 million) on these partnerships. Now, let's look at more numbers and see how Orange is helping the 28th Olympic Games succeed.
Orange at the 5G Olympics
Orange is leading the way in coming up with new ideas to change how we communicate and make watching events more exciting. Bertrand Rojat, CTIO at Orange Events, says it's really important to give viewers a really immersive experience. Using a mix of fiber, Wi-Fi, and IP-native 5G, Orange ensures that people at 32 official competition places and around 13 million viewers can easily stay connected, talk without interruptions, and enjoy watching the games even more. "What people are looking for is to be as close as possible to what is happening in the stadium. To do that, you need more cameras that are close to the athletes; private 5G can enable that. You can use a very small camera and still get very high quality for broadcasting," says Bertrand Rojat.
During the opening ceremony, smartphones will send live pictures from the boats on the Seine River, using a special 5G network just for the event. Also, cameras on athletes' helmets, like those in kite surfing, will let everyone see the action up close, even when it's out at sea.
As part of their agreement, Orange is making the official app for spectators. With the help of 5G, it will have instant updates on sports events in French and English for people in the stadiums, useful tips to help the audience understand the rules of the sports, ticketing, and help with services and facilities.
Apart from the 5G infrastructure, Orange will introduce Team Connect, "Push-To-Talk" service enabling secure and private voice and video communication for organizational, emergency, and security teams at the games. This is a first in the history of the Olympic Games.
The Paris 2024 Marathon Pour Tous
Beyond technological support, Orange actively promotes inclusivity, physical activity, and sustainability at the Games. This includes for instance sponsoring events like the Paris 2024 Marathon Pour Tous that shows the spirit of inclusion, marking the first Olympic event open to the general public. Sponsored by Orange, this marathon welcomes 40,048 runners of all abilities to the streets of Paris on August 10, 2024. With 5,000 Orange bibs available, participants can share the Olympic experience while tackling either the challenging 42-kilometer course or the more accessible 10-kilometer route, open to people with disabilities. To participate in this event, register on one of the three official platforms: Club Paris 2024, Marathon Pour Tous app, or Team Orange Running.
A green model for the Games
Even though Paris 2024 will be a big event, Orange wants to ensure it's good for the planet. Like the other sponsors, Orange is working hard to make the Games more eco-friendly. They plan to reduce carbon emissions to less than 10,000 metric tons of CO2e. Their goal is to limit the impact of technical deployment, aligning with Paris 2024's aim to reduce its carbon footprint. Through initiatives such as using more sea freight and local suppliers and implementing a circular economy approach, Orange is setting new standards for sustainability in major events, striving towards a more responsible digital world while leaving a lasting legacy for future competitions.
Final Thoughts
Past Olympic Games have seen remarkable advancements in communication, security, and fan engagement. With Orange's current efforts, Paris 2024 will be no exception in innovation and progress. While some critics express concerns about the potential monopolistic practices and limited competition resulting from Orange's dominance in the connectivity sphere, it's undeniable that their contributions are positively impacting the success of the 28th Olympic Games.
Financial Outlook ORAN 0.00%↑
For Q1 ending March 31, 2024, Africa & Middle East is the main contributor to this growth, with revenues rising strongly (+11.1% or +185 million euros) lead by a robust performance in voice and double-digit increases in its four growth engines (+15.7% in mobile data, +20.6% in fixed broadband, +23.5% at Orange Money and +14.1% in B2B across all activities), and this despite the devaluation of the Egyptian pound.
Revenues in France increased 0.8% (+35 million euros) thanks to the growth in retail services excluding PSTN(3) (+3.0%), in line with the “Lead the Future” target of growth between 2.0% and 4.0%, and to a smaller decline in wholesale (-4.2%) due to the higher unbundling rate applied from 1 January 2024.
Europe declined (-2.0% or -35 million euros) due to a reduction in low-margin activities, offset partially by the continued growth of retail services excluding IT and Integration services (+0.9%).
The slight decrease in Orange Business revenues (-0.3% or -6 million euros) was due to the decline in fixed voice revenues (-8.7% or -72 million euros), which was almost offset by accelerated growth in IT and Integration services revenues (+7.5% or +65 million euros), notably driven by Orange Cyberdefense (+15.3% or +39 million euros).
In terms of commercial performance, the Group maintained its leadership position in convergence, with 9.1 million convergent customers (+1.9%), as well as its commercial momentum in mobile contracts and very high-speed fixed broadband accesses. Mobile services had 242.6 million accesses worldwide (+7.0%) including 90.7 million contracts (+12.3%). Fixed services had 39.2 million accesses worldwide (-3.2%) of which 13.3 million were very high-speed broadband accesses, an area that continued to show strong growth (+14.4%). Fixed narrowband accesses continued their decline (-13.2%).
For the complete earnings report, click here.
