Orange hoping to score in South Africa

Orange, a global telecommunications services provider and sponsor of the Africa Cup of Nations, has launched Orange Horizons, a new subsidiary established to build the brand and source fresh revenue streams for the Group. South Africa is one of the markets targeted for a range of planned projects, including the launch of online stores, travel solutions and a virtual mobile operator activity.

The first of these projects has already been launched. This comprises two websites: firstly an e-commerce website, http://store.orange.com/za, has been launched to sell telecoms-related devices and accessories.

This is combined with a country website, www.orange.com/za, which provides online content specifically tailored for a South African audience including news feeds, sports news and audiovisual content.

The launch of these services coincides with the start of the Orange Africa Cup of Nations. To increase interest and visibility, the company has launched a competition through which South African residents connecting to www.orange.com/za will be able to win tickets to several matches, including the final.

The Group plans to launch business ventures in several other countries in 2013 in Europe and Africa, and will also look at opportunities in South America in order to leverage existing content-related assets such as starMedia (a South American Internet portal) for example.

A range of business projects will be investigated depending on the specific potential within each country.

These include:

• e-commerce sites, and potentially even physical stores, selling handsets, accessories and electronic equipment. This could be extended to assistance corners forOrangecustomers visiting from abroad;
• the launch of over-the-top country websites that aim to leverage existing assets such as the Group’s two pan-continental web-portals StarAfrica (Africa) and starMedia (South America), or content-providers such as Deezer and DailyMotion;
• the introduction of multi-country travel solutions – data offers using WiFi or VoIP – aimed in particular at professionals or tourists coming from countries in which Orange is already present;
• finally, the launch of a virtual mobile operator (MVNO) activity is also a possibility in certain countries.

Staff Writer