Orange S.A.

Meta announced Petal on Sept. 21, a roughly 4,300-mile subsea cable connecting the U.S. and France that is expected to enter service in 2029 and will be the first to deliver petabit-scale capacity across an ocean. The cable will carry 1 petabit per second, or about 125,000 gigabytes per second, double what today's most advanced transoceanic cables can handle, using two-core fiber that fits two light paths inside each strand. Petal is one piece of a much larger seafloor empire: Meta says it has invested in more than 20 subsea cable projects touching every continent except Antarctica, led by Project Waterworth, announced in February 2025, which will stretch more than 31,000 miles and connect the U.S., Brazil, South Africa, India, and other regions across five continents. Petal is being developed with Japan's NEC and Sumitomo Electric Industries, with French telecom Orange handling the landing on France's Atlantic coast, while Waterworth will be wholly owned by Meta, only its third solely owned cable according to telecom research firm TeleGeography. Meta has not disclosed what Petal or Waterworth will cost, but TechCrunch reported before Waterworth's announcement that the project could top $10 billion, a small slice of the company's expected capital expenditures of $130 billion to $145 billion this year, nearly double the $72.2 billion it spent in 2025.

Orange has successfully completed a bond issuance in euros across four tranches, raising a total nominal amount of 4.1 billion euros. The tranches include 1.25 billion euros due September 2029 with a 3.625% coupon, 1 billion euros due September 2032 with a 4% coupon, 1.1 billion euros due September 2035 with a 4.25% coupon, and 0.75 billion euros due September 2038 with a 4.5% coupon. The order book reached 16 billion euros, reflecting strong investor confidence in Orange's strategic plan. Proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes, with HSBC and Société Générale acting as global coordinators.

Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Vodafone Group, and Telefónica, four major European telecom operators, are in early discussions to establish a consortium to participate in the EU's satellite frequency auction and provide direct-to-mobile communications services. Bloomberg reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. The four companies aim to jointly win the allocation of the 2 GHz band that the EU reserves for operators within the bloc, but a final decision has not yet been made. In May, the EU announced plans to allocate most satellite frequencies for mobile phones to European companies. The European Commission will allocate two-thirds of the frequencies for the multi-orbit satellite constellation "IRIS2," consisting of 290 satellites, to commercial use, and distribute them equally between EU and non-EU operators. The consortium is expected to bid for the EU operator quota. IRIS2 is Europe's initiative to counter SpaceX's Starlink.

AST SpaceMobile announced the expansion of network integration testing across Europe in collaboration with leading mobile network operators Vodafone, Orange, Telefónica, Deutsche Telekom, and Vodafone Ukraine. The testing, subject to regulatory approvals, is underway in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Romania, France, the Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, and Ukraine, leveraging the carrier-neutral gateway infrastructure of Satellite Connect Europe, a joint venture between AST SpaceMobile and Vodafone. The initiative aims to integrate AST SpaceMobile's space-based cellular broadband service with existing terrestrial networks using standard, unmodified smartphones. The company works with nearly 60 mobile network operators globally, representing over 3 billion existing subscribers, and its satellite technology is backed by approximately 3,900 patent and patent-pending claims.

Orange reported first-half group net income of 3.6 billion euros, swinging from a loss of 105 million euros a year earlier, and raised its full-year EBITDAaL growth guidance to exceed 4%, up from a prior outlook of above 3%. Group EBITDAaL reached 6.1 billion euros in the first half of 2026, a 5.0% increase on a comparable basis, while adjusted net income rose 11.8% to 1.35 billion euros. Revenues grew 3.5% on a comparable basis to 20.9 billion euros. For the second quarter, EBITDAaL was 3.53 billion euros, up 3.9% on a comparable basis, and revenues were 10.85 billion euros, up 3.5% on a comparable basis. Orange set a fiscal 2026 dividend of 0.79 euros per share, with an interim cash payment of 0.30 euros on December 3, 2026.

Orange and infrastructure investment firm Morrison have signed an exclusivity agreement to create a data center joint venture in France. The co-controlled venture would target 400 megawatts of capacity, nearly ten times Orange's current capacity, backed by a 3 billion euro investment program. Orange would contribute five major data centers across four French campuses along with its operational expertise, while Morrison would provide infrastructure investment experience and capital. The platform aims to meet accelerating cloud and AI demand with sovereign, low-carbon solutions, and Orange Business would become the exclusive partner for colocation and hosting services. Definitive documentation is expected by the end of 2026, with closing anticipated in the first quarter of 2027.

Orange Travel, part of the European telecom operator Orange, has launched a summer promotion called "Hot Destinations, Cooler Prices" offering up to 80% savings on travel eSIMs across more than 60 destinations. The offer runs from July 1 to August 31 and is available worldwide, covering data-only, all-inclusive plans with data, calls, and text messages, and unlimited plans. Discounts include 80% off destinations such as Cuba, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Oman, South Korea, Switzerland, and Thailand, 60% off Morocco, 50% off countries including Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Japan, and the United States, and 40% off European destinations like France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Unlimited plans for European countries are discounted by 20%. Orange Travel provides connectivity in over 200 destinations, backed by Orange's global network and 24/7 human customer support in 14 languages.

Orange S.A. has announced the results of its tender offer to repurchase part of two series of outstanding undated non-call deeply subordinated fixed to reset rate notes. For the NC 2026 Existing Notes, of which approximately €500 million was outstanding, €254.041 million were validly tendered and accepted at a price of 100.650%, leaving a remaining outstanding principal of €245.957 million. For the NC 2027 Existing Notes, of which €350 million was outstanding, €102.600 million were validly tendered and accepted at a price of 99.150%, leaving a remaining outstanding principal of €247.400 million. Settlement is expected on 25 June 2026.

U.S. restrictions on access to some artificial intelligence services are accelerating efforts by major European companies to spread risk across multiple AI providers and strengthen domestic alternatives. Executives from Siemens, Renault Group, Orange, and ChapsVision told Reuters at the VivaTech conference in Paris that they already use a mix of U.S., Chinese, and European models to avoid dependence on any single provider. Siemens said it uses Chinese models DeepSeek and Alibaba's Qwen alongside Nvidia's Nemotron and other U.S. and European models, while Orange warned that the recent U.S. order for Anthropic to suspend access to its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models for foreign nationals made it patently clear how important it is for Europe to have an AI service it can control. Cost pressures are also mounting, with Orange noting that token costs are rising sharply as companies adopt automated software agents, citing Uber as an example of a firm that burned through its 2026 token budget in just four months.

Orange has purchased 1,692,083 of its own shares for a total of €29,456,198.84 between 12 and 17 June 2026, as part of a share buyback program authorized by shareholders on 19 May 2026. The shares were acquired outside of a liquidity contract to honor obligations under long-term incentive plans for corporate officers and senior employees. The daily breakdown includes 575,910 shares at an average price of €17.6323 on 12 June, 700,000 shares at €17.5589 on 16 June, and 416,173 shares at €16.8448 on 17 June. The overall weighted average purchase price was €17.4082 per share. Orange is listed on Euronext Paris under the symbol ORA.