TelecomTV TelecomTV
  • News
  • Videos
  • Channels
  • Events
  • Network Partners
  • Industry Insights
  • Directory
  • Newsletters
  • Digital Platforms and Services
  • Open RAN
  • Cloud Native Telco
  • Telcos and Public Cloud
  • The Green Network
  • Private Networks
  • Open Telco Infra
  • 5G Evolution
  • Access Evolution
  • Edgenomics
  • Network Automation
  • 6G Research and Innovation
  • Security
  • More Topics
  • Network Partners
  • Industry Insights
  • Directory
  • Newsletters
  • |
  • About
  • Contact
  • |
  • Connect with us
  • Digital Platforms and Services
  • Open RAN
  • Cloud Native Telco
  • Telcos and Public Cloud
  • The Green Network
  • Private Networks
  • Open Telco Infra
  • 5G Evolution
  • Access Evolution
  • Edgenomics
  • Network Automation
  • 6G Research & Innovation
  • Security
  • Connect with TelecomTV
  • About
  • Privacy
  • Help
  • Contact
  • Sign In Register Subscribe
    • Subscribe
    • Sign In
    • Register
  • Search

Data Centres

Data Centres

Orange didn't get the memo about selling data centres

Nick Wood
By Nick Wood

May 16, 2019

via Orange © Nicolas Gouhier

via Orange © Nicolas Gouhier

  • Telco bucks trend, ploughing €100m into two new facilities...
  • ...Although it does plan to retire nine obsolete data centres
  • New sites will consume 60 percent less energy than the old ones

Orange is spending €100 million on two new, state-of-the-art data centres in its home market of France, bucking the growing trend for telcos to offload their data centre assets.

One of the new facilities will be located in Normandy – Orange already has one large data centre there that has been in operation since 2012 – and the other, according to a Les Echos report, will be built in Chartres.

"These data centres are real strategic assets for Orange: they will allow us to support our customers' increased use of digital technology in a trusted environment," said Orange CEO Stéphane Richard, in a statement accompanying the groundbreaking ceremony at the Normandy site, which is due to come online in 2020.

Odd one out

Orange is somewhat going against the grain by actively building new data centres.

Only last week, Telefonica agreed the €550 million sale of 11 of its data centres in several markets to infrastructure fund manager Asterion Industrial Partners. The deal covers sites in Spain, the US and five LatAm countries, and accounts for just less than half of Telefonica's data centre footprint.

US operators have been hard at it too, with AT&T, Verizon, CenturyLink and Windstream all offloading some or all of their data centre operations.

Synergy Research Group's chief analyst and research director John Dinsdale told TelecomTV earlier this week that a lot of telcos that moved into the data centre market have since concluded they don't have the nouse or funds needed to compete with the likes of Amazon, Google and Microsoft, and so they are pulling out again.

So why is Orange not doing the same? According to Les Echos, the company will use its data centres in France to store internal company data, and customer data – which includes private customers and customers of Orange Business Services.

"It is an issue of sovereignty – for the company, for France and for Europe. It's a security issue," Richard said in the report.

It sounds then like Orange has cast itself as a trusted custodian of data, which is likely to go down well with the sort of clients that want to use the cloud but handle the sort of sensitive data that isn't allowed to cross borders. Whether this will sustain Orange's data centre operations indefinitely remains to be seen.

Rational thinking

It's also worth noting that while Orange is building two shiny new data centres, it also plans to retire nine obsolete ones as well, as part of a move to modernise and rationalise its IT infrastructure.

There is an environmental angle too. The combination of Normandy's relatively cool climate with cooling technologies that use ambient air means that Orange's new data centre will consume 60 percent less energy compared to its older facilities.

So while Orange's decision to build more data centres as others pull out of the sector may mark it out as something of an oddity, there is a certain shrewdness to this strategy that could pay off long term.

Related Topics
  • Analysis & Opinion,
  • Announcement,
  • Business Models,
  • Cloud,
  • Data Centres,
  • Digital Platforms and Services,
  • Europe,
  • News,
  • Orange,
  • Telco & CSP

More Like This

Open RAN

What’s up with… KDDI, Fujitsu, Samsung, 5G IoT, BT

Jan 24, 2023

Digital Platforms and Services

News brief: Public cloud market revenues topped $540bn in 2022

Jan 24, 2023

Edgenomics

Digital Edge and Zenlayer partner to build one-stop edge cloud service hub in East and South-east Asia

Jan 17, 2023

Security

The ITU’s Ukraine report is important – so why is it hidden away?

Jan 11, 2023

Digital Platforms and Services

ST Telemedia Global Data Centres closes transaction introducing Macquarie Asset Management as a significant minority shareholder in VIRTUS Data Centres

Jan 11, 2023

Email Newsletters

Stay up to date with the latest industry developments: sign up to receive TelecomTV's top news and videos plus exclusive subscriber-only content direct to your inbox – including our daily news briefing and weekly wrap.

Subscribe

Top Picks

Highlights of our content from across TelecomTV today

0:46

The Cloud Native Telco Summit returns this September!

8:32

Azita Arvani on Being a Female Leader at Rakuten Symphony

16:19

AT&T Amy Zwarico on securing telco applications in the public cloud

1:44

Join us for the greatest industry debate of the year!

TelecomTV
Company
  • About Us
  • Media Kit
  • Contact Us
Our Brands
  • DSP Leaders World Forum
  • Great Telco Debate
  • TelecomTV Events
Get In Touch
[email protected]
+44 (0) 207 448 1070
Connect With Us
  • Privacy
  • Cookies
  • Terms of Use
  • Legal Notices
  • Help

TelecomTV is produced by the team at Decisive Media.

© Decisive Media Limited 2023. All rights reserved. All brands and products are the trademarks of their respective holder(s).