France Telecom-Orange has announced on December 5, 2012, the launch of its operations under the Orange brand in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, giving a new dimension to operations formerly marketed under the CCT brand which was acquired by Orange in October 2011. Orange DRC customers will now join a global community of 183 million Orange customers spread across 33 countries in the world.
Since the acquisition of CCT by Orange in October 2011, and in line with its overall strategy, Orange has Invested about 87.4 billion CDF (Congolese francs, i.e. $95m) to expand and upgrade its network infrastructure. Through these efforts, Orange has been able to offer extensive, high quality coverage across the country from the first day of its launch. Orange has also pioneered the deployment of the first 3G+ network in the leading cities in Dem. Rep. of Congo (DRC).
The Orange Network is now operational in Kinshasa and will be rolled out in Lubumbashi and Matadi in the coming days. Also, in early 2013, residents of Goma, Bukavu and Mbuji-Mayi will also be covered on the Orange Network.
To maintain the Group’s high-quality technical and commercial standards, Orange DRC has rolled out an extensive program of 18,000 hours of training. It has recruited extra employees to achieve its goals, bringing its total staff to more than 600 people, and it can rely on more than 30,000 distributors and partners. The majority of the managerial positions are being filled with local talent.
Also, Orange DRC will have a chain of 22 own-branded retail outlets to propose the full range of its mobile offers, and its products and services will be widely available through 22,000 indirect points of sale.
Furthermore, Through the Group’s global network of 15 Orange Labs, the DRC will benefit from Orange’s ability to develop innovative products and services designed specifically to meet local requirements. Drawing on its knowledge of Africa’s markets, the Group has already worked to refine its catalogue of offers in the DRC based on targeted customer segments.
Jean-Léon Bonnechère, CEO of Orange DRC, was quoted saying “Our objective is to harness the power of a large Group in order to benefit the Congolese population. We think that there is a strong desire for simple, dynamic and innovative services in the DRC, a country with incredible development potential; it is the Group’s ability to meet these requirements that makes Orange one of the most renowned brands in the world. We are committed to giving access to a reliable, high-quality network and to the possibilities offered by mobile broadband services using the 3G+ network.”
Customers can find out more about Orange’s offers in the DRC on its web portal: orange-rdc.com
