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#MWC2023: vision of
an open future
Christel Heydemann
10 articles Suivre
Chief Executive Officer Orange
28 février 2023
What future do we dream of?
Our understanding has changed dramatically in the last

decade. Last time I attended the Mobile World Congress
here in Barcelona, in 2013, we were looking at innovations
concerning smartphones and tablets, with first 4G
compatible handsets. We were also showcasing how a more
connected future – powered by mobile – would improve
people’s daily lives across automotive, education, health,
homes, retail and more…
Ten years later, there’s now no doubt that our industry has
become absolutely critical to consumers and companies,
with our networks supporting essential digital services to
our societies. Times are exciting in Telecom, with latest
technologies allowing us to rejuvenate as we become even
more critical and useful to our societies.
But I also realize that over the past 10 years, the situation
for European telcos has become completely paradoxical.
From fierce competition to sometimes outdated regulation,
our sector is dealing with contradictory requirements. 46%
of telecom CEOs think their companies won’t make it
another decade, according to PWC. Because the massive
network investments - almost €600bn in Europe in the last
decade! – happen to be hard to monetize, while consumers
expect to pay less and get more. In the meantime, telcos
are facing pressure from investors to squeeze their capex
while coping with exponential traffic growth – mainly
concentrated by a handful of digital players.
I truly wonder if this is what we had in mind 10 years ago

for the future of our European industry. Despite the strong
resolution of the European industry to take up the Digital
Decade challenge through innovation and collaboration,
are we really setting the right frame for telcos to succeed?
Let me share with you today some of my convictions, along

with examples of what we are currently working on at
Orange, in line with our new plan called “Lead the future”
which I presented two weeks ago.
First, because the entire sector is at a

crossroads, I believe we need to step aside
and take a fresh look at our industry.
It looks paradoxical that infrastructure is better valued as a

standalone business that within the telecom sector. The
pandemic demonstrated how critical a resilient and secure
infrastructure is to our customers, but this infrastructure
requires huge investments that some telcos are no longer
able to fully absorb and are consequently compelled to
partly sell their assets off. Yet without infrastructure, many
of the digital innovations shown here at the MWC would
not be possible. That is why our infrastructure is being
modernized. Old copper networks are being
decommissioned throughout the world: it doesn’t make
sense to continue operating them for technological,
economic, and environmental reasons. Simple fact: fiber is 4
times more energy-efficient than copper.
Innovations – such as virtualization and softwarization,

combined with AI – are also essential for us to bring even
more secure and resilient networks to better meet our
customers’ increasing expectations.
I strongly believe that European

telecommunication companies are committed
to take this future in their own hands, side by
side, with an open, sustainable and
collaborative approach.
Collaboration is key. It has always been very critical to

develop new standards in our industry, it will become an
even stronger fundamental in the way we operate and
innovate. Let’s take one of the many interesting innovations
of MWC 2023, the GSMA Open Gateway that was
announced this morning. Telcos already have the
experience of existing API exposure to developers, but the
Open Gateway initiative is a fantastic opportunity to
investigate together this field of new network
opportunities. We are working hard to provide easy-to-use
Network APIs, that any developer could consume to create
innovative services.
We as Telcos know our networks, and we manage their

deep technical complexity, but we will offer a very simple
and harmonized way to access its numerous functions.
We must also make sure that we’re building a responsible,

secure and eco-friendly framework for the digital world
we’re supporting.
According to GSMA, network traffic has increased by more

than 10 times over the past five years, while telcos’ energy
use has remained almost flat in the same period. That’s a
great achievement, but it’s only a start when you look at
the traffic exponential trends. That is why while
rejuvenating, our new networks need to be green “by
design”, another area where telcos must work together.
Telcos are responsible for the use of this open digital world,
as cyberthreats are becoming a day-to-day concern for
everyone. We are committed to invest in cybersecurity with
Orange Cyberdefense.
In short, I truly think that telecommunication companies are

committed to play their part in building a responsible
digital world, green, accessible to everyone and secure by
design. We keep innovating and massively investing to
support this digital world and meet connectivity
requirements. But I must also ask: is the whole digital
industry contributing fairly to the fundamentals of our
digital world?

Consequently, it is time our industry

proactively and collaboratively builds the
future we all dream of, because it is only
achievable with the right conditions.
Telcos have to deal with a very difficult equation between

investment and regulation.
Our industry has been one of the greatest contributors to

our economies through massive investments, almost
€600bn over the past decade in Europe. While customers
demand the highest standards of service quality to meet
their increasing needs, European telcos are under pressure
to achieve the “Digital Decade” targets. Five of the largest
Online Traffic Generators account for 55% of daily traffic on
telco networks. This represents approximately €15bn cost
by European telcos each year within the €56bn invested by
Telcos.
Fair play rules start with acknowledging the unbalanced

situation today.
Regulators and policy makers have a major role to play to

balance this situation. Recent research shows that there is a
risk of 45 million Europeans not reached by gigabit
networks by 2030. Our common interest is that telcos keep
investing to support new digital services and to meet
growing customer needs, in all sectors of Europe’s
economy and society!
To that end, we call for a new European framework which

would bring a fair contribution of large online traffic
generators to connectivity requirements.
All operators are used to implementing wholesale

agreements, from fibercos to legacy networks, in order to
achieve their existing and future connectivity goals and we
are all willing to set the proper commercial frameworks with
large online traffic generators.
We’re not asking here to change Europe’s net neutrality

principles. Nor are we asking for a new Tax mechanism. In
order to achieve the EU Digital Decade, we do believe that
a fair and direct contribution to network costs will help
create the better conditions we urgently need to keep
investing privately rather than requiring public funding.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry said: “It’s not about predicting

the future but making it possible”.
This is what we’ve chosen to express in our Orange

strategic plan called “Lead the future”. Our Telco industry is
absolutely essential, we must capture the full value from
our services and from next generation open networks.
And our future cannot be built alone, so I ask everyone

here to step forward.
Not to lead the future but to lead OUR future!
We can make it happen, by setting the right conditions and

choosing the right commitments. In the end, we all want to
make our dream of an open but fair future come true.
Signaler ceci
Publié par
Christel Heydemann 10 articles Suivre
Publié • 6 h
What future do we dream of?
Despite the strong resolution to take up the Digital Decade challenge through
innovation and collaboration, are we really setting the right frame for #telcos to
succeed?
Is the whole digital industry contributing fairly to the fundamentals of our digital
world?
At a crossroads, we need to step aside and take a fresh look at our industry.
#MWC2023 #MWC23 Orange
MWC Barcelona
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Jean-Francois Pigeon (He/Him) • + que 3e 6 h (modifié)

Founder & Partner JFP Advisory
Good to see you back in Telecoms Christel Heydemann. You and Thierry
Breton hit it on the head by directly tackling fair value distribution to
ensure we have the capacity to invest in the infrastructure that makes it all
possible. God knows where we would have been had those investments in
…voir plus
Voir la traduction
J’aime · 1 Répondre
Tomasz Stepinski-Ustasiak • + que 3e 4h

Transformation numérique | Industrie 4.0 | Stratégie d'entreprise numérique |
IoT, IIoT, AIoT, CDN
Christel Heydemann has addressed the problem well. Then again, this is

not the first time that operators have come to the conclusion that much of
the value they provide through infrastructure is consumed by digital giants
and not by operators. But as she wrote, "We're not asking here to change
Europe's net neutrality principles. Nor are we asking for a new Tax…voir plus
Voir la traduction
J’aime · 2 Répondre
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2 23 Essayez Premium

Accueil Réseau Offres d’emploi Messagerie Notifications Vous Produits gratuitement

What future do we dream of?

Our understanding has changed dramatically in the last

I truly wonder if this is what we had in mind 10 years ago

Let me share with you today some of my convictions, along

First, because the entire sector is at a

It looks paradoxical that infrastructure is better valued as a

Innovations – such as virtualization and softwarization,

I strongly believe that European

Collaboration is key. It has always been very critical to

We as Telcos know our networks, and we manage their

We must also make sure that we’re building a responsible,

According to GSMA, network traffic has increased by more

In short, I truly think that telecommunication companies are

Consequently, it is time our industry

Telcos have to deal with a very difficult equation between

Our industry has been one of the greatest contributors to

Fair play rules start with acknowledging the unbalanced

Regulators and policy makers have a major role to play to

To that end, we call for a new European framework which

All operators are used to implementing wholesale

We’re not asking here to change Europe’s net neutrality

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry said: “It’s not about predicting

This is what we’ve chosen to express in our Orange

And our future cannot be built alone, so I ask everyone

Not to lead the future but to lead OUR future!

We can make it happen, by setting the right conditions and

What future do we dream of?

J’aime Commenter Partager

Amine Sebti et 358 autres personnes

Jean-Francois Pigeon (He/Him) • + que 3e 6 h (modifié)

Tomasz Stepinski-Ustasiak • + que 3e 4h

Christel Heydemann has addressed the problem well. Then again, this is

Plus de Christel Heydemann

Paris 2024, un défi de taille Digital Will Have the Future

Le numérique, clé d’une

Voir les 10 articles

Infos Accessibilité Talent Solutions Des questions ? Choisir une langue

Conditions générales et Préférences Pubs Publicité Gérez votre compte et votre

LinkedIn Corporation © 2023

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