Telecoms giant Orange Group has released quarterly results showing worldwide customer numbers up 5.1% to 203.4 million. The number of mobile customers was up 8% to 144.5 million, largely driven by growth in Africa and the Middle East. The group's 3G customer base has now reached 33.5 million, an increase of 36.6% year-on-year.
Revenue was up 1.1% in the third quarter excluding the impact of regulatory measures; including the effects of regulation shows a fall of 0.6%.
Stéphane Richard, CEO of France Telecom, said "The solid results we present today mark a first milestone in achieving the priorities of Conquests 2015 and put us above the 200 million mark for customers worldwide for the first time. We have revived our commercial performance in France where revenues rose 1.3% in the third quarter, in large measure due to the significant recovery of mobile services, spearheaded by smartphones. In addition, by adjusting the price of our triple-play service and with the success of our Orange Open offer we have regained our share of net new additions of ADSL customers to more than 30% – twice that of the previous quarter."