Orange delivered one of its strongest first-half performances in 2026, reporting record revenue growth, improving profitability, expanding fiber broadband and 5G adoption, and accelerating digital services across Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
The telecom operator generated first-half revenue of €20.95 billion, up 3.5 percent, while EBITDAaL increased 5.0 percent to €6.13 billion, supported by strong performances in Africa & Middle East, France and Europe 6.
Orange’s commercial momentum continued across multiple markets, with 321.3 million mobile accesses, up 9.1 percent, 45.2 million fixed accesses, and 24.0 million very high-speed broadband retail accesses, representing 7.1 percent annual growth. The operator also served 14.2 million convergent customers, reflecting continued demand for bundled mobile and fiber broadband services.
Fiber broadband remained a major growth engine. Europe 6 surpassed 3 million fiber customers after adding 54,000 fiber subscribers during the second quarter. Across the Group, Orange reported 24.0 million very high-speed broadband retail accesses, while Africa & Middle East expanded its fixed broadband customer base 17.2 percent to 5.1 million subscribers.
In France, Orange achieved its strongest quarterly fixed broadband performance since 2021, adding 62,000 broadband customers while maintaining more than 40 percent fiber conquest share. Wholesale fiber network monetization and co-financing also supported revenue growth.
The company’s mobile business continued to expand alongside 5G and 4G network investments. Africa & Middle East reached 180 million mobile customers, up 8.1 percent, including 98 million 4G subscribers, an increase of 14.9 percent.
Orange Money expanded to 52 million customers, growing 20.7 percent, while mobile data revenue increased 20.8 percent, demonstrating the rising contribution of digital connectivity and financial services across emerging markets.
Average revenue performance also improved across key markets. In France, convergent ARPO increased to €78.1, while fixed-only ARPO rose to €38.7. Mobile churn declined to 10.0 percent, the lowest level since 2020, reflecting improved customer loyalty. In Poland, convergent ARPO increased 4.5 percent, while Spain maintained a stable convergent ARPU of €52.9 despite a highly competitive market. Africa & Middle East also reported a 7.1 percent increase in average mobile ARPO during the second quarter.
Orange maintained disciplined capital investment while continuing network expansion. Group eCAPEX reached €3.18 billion, representing 15.2 percent of revenue. Investment in Africa & Middle East increased 18.7 percent to €890 million to support subscriber growth, while France invested €1.41 billion and Europe 6 reduced eCAPEX 2.6 percent to €507 million through more efficient capital allocation. Spain lowered eCAPEX 23.9 percent during June following the consolidation of MasOrange.
Digital infrastructure and AI-related investment also accelerated during the period. Orange announced plans to establish a joint venture with Morrison to develop a French data center platform targeting 400 MW of capacity backed by a €3 billion investment program. The initiative will combine five existing data centers across four campuses with new expansion projects to support growing demand for sovereign AI, cloud computing and enterprise digital infrastructure.
Orange also strengthened its European telecom footprint through acquisitions. The company completed the acquisition of the remaining 50 percent stake in MasOrange for €4.25 billion, valuing the Spanish operator at €8.5 billion.
Orange also signed a memorandum of understanding to acquire part of SFR through a consortium transaction with an enterprise value of €20.35 billion, with Orange’s share estimated at approximately €5.6 billion. The proposed deal would add around 4 million mobile customers, 1 million fixed broadband customers, 47 MHz of spectrum and approximately €1.7 billion in annual revenue with €0.6 billion in EBITDAaL based on 2025 performance.
BABURAJAN KIZHAKEDATH
