Paris, Wednesday, July 22, 2015

The Orange Group has announced that it has entered into exclusive discussions with Ucom, an Armenian internet service provider, to sell 100% of its mobile subsidiary Orange Armenia.

As outlined in its Essentials2020 plan, the Group’s focus is on providing customers with high-quality convergent services that combine the power of both mobile and fixed networks. In line with this approach, the Group has recently conducted several operations including the proposed merger of EE with BT in the UK and the acquisition of Jazztel in Spain.

Although significant progress has been made in recent years, both in terms of subscriber numbers and profitability, largely thanks to the efforts made by its staff, Orange Armenia does not have the necessary scale to carry out by itself the massive investments required to enable it to offer its customers convergent services.

The discussions with the internet service provider Ucom concern the sale of Orange Armenia, which would enable the creation of a strong Armenian player capable of offering its customers a broad range of fixed and mobile services.

Orange Armenia was established in 2009 after the Orange group acquired a mobile telecoms license. Orange has since deployed one of the country’s most extensive 3G+ networks both in the capital Yerevan and in rural areas, and is the leader in mobile internet. Orange had 630,000 customers in Armenia at the end of 2014 and employs 500 people.