Orange Outlines New Plans For UK

New CEO Tom Alexander today outlined plans for Orange in the UK, designed to deliver better quality, innovation and service to its customers, and growth for the company.

He unveiled a new three-pronged customer-focused strategy for the company in order to dramatically improve the quality of the customer and network experience; grow the business by expanding Orange sales channels and the high-speed network; and evolve the way the communications market currently operates by more-effectively combining its mobile and fixed broadband arms to provide pioneering new services.

Kicking off the new strategy, he outlined initial plans for the company including introducing a new structure for the board and organisation; launching a new line of “totally connected” Orange products including laptops; creating new jobs in customer centres and Orange Shops; stopping the expansion of offshore customer service in India; reducing duplication in management roles; launching new high-street stores; accelerating the rollout of the high-speed data network; developing industry-leading new services; and launching new innovative customer propositions that transcend the way broadband and mobile services are currently marketed and sold.

Tom Alexander, CEO of Orange UK said: “Orange is an iconic brand, a great business, and we’re going to build on that success to become the best-loved telecommunications company in Britain. To reach that goal, we need to give our customers consistent quality – quality of network, products, service and experience. Delivering that quality will see the number of customers who join, stay and spend with us grow. 

“The telecommunications market has evolved dramatically in recent times and it is my aim to make sure that Orange is at the forefront of serving today’s 21st century customer – a customer who is web-savvy, product-savvy and, quite rightly, demands a premium service at the same time as best value for money.

“So we’re proposing to change the shape of the organisation and the way the business works to serve the 21st century customer. These changes are designed to stop duplication within our organisation, and to ensure we are agile, and able to deliver and react quickly to customers’ needs. And they’ll also make staff more accountable while generating greater financial and operational efficiencies.”

New Service Strategy

Orange is introducing a number of new ways for its customers to contact the company. As well as enabling its store staff to help customers, it is also launching new Instant Messaging and web self-serve systems, giving customers new levels of access and choice. Orange also announced that it was stopping its expansion of its offshore call centre partnerships in India, returning much of its customer service focus to the UK. Pay Monthly calls will be the first to be returned in order to be dealt with by UK customer service teams.

New network plans

Orange has also announced a new mobile network strategy focused on delivering even better network quality to its 15.8 million mobile customers across Britain. The company plans to rollout 450 new 2G base stations across the UK to ensure customers will benefit from best quality coverage and service when using their phones for calls and texts. Further investment in the 3G network will also ensure that services such as mobile TV and the mobile internet can be accessed – and offer the best levels of quality – wherever customers want to use them in the UK. The company is also accelerating its 3G+ (HSDPA) rollout in order to provide faster speeds to more people and will offer speeds of up to 7.2mbps in the top 30 UK cities within 18 months.

The company, which already has the largest 3G coverage of all of the major mobile operators in Britain, also announced plans to launch a new super-fast mobile network. Offering speeds of up to 14.4mbps, the network will provide customers with faster and better quality access to the mobile Internet and other 21^st century services on the move. Drawing on Orange’s experience of high-speed mobile broadband rollouts elsewhere in Europe, the network will launch next year, with an initial plan to rollout in five cities across the UK.

The company is also accelerating its fixed broadband network to provide a better service to its 1.1 million broadband customers, with a target of 950 unbundled exchanges by the end of 2008. Currently, the company has around 850 unbundled exchanges.

New Sales Channels

Orange is expanding on Britain’s high streets with around 60 new stores scheduled to open throughout this year and into 2009, building on its existing 338 outlets. The company is also overhauling its on-line store that will deliver a better experience to customers shopping on the virtual high-street. The shopping experience, usability, credit management system and stability are all being rebuilt to ensure Orange can maximise its on-line potential.

New Services

Working closely with Orange’s global R&D unit – Orange Labs – Orange UK will deliver pioneering new technologies over the next 12 months and beyond, in order to provide its customers with a unique level of quality and experience that no other mobile company can offer. Orange plans to launch a new range of “totally connected” products this year, including laptops that will provide customers with instant broadband using Orange’s fixed-line service in the home, and the high-speed mobile data network on the move.

New Structure

Orange has today announced a new UK board and organisational structure orientated around customers. The company is creating two new teams – the Consumer customer team, headed by Mike Newnham, and the Business customer team, led by Paul Tollet. This is designed to ensure a positive end-to-end customer experience. All other functions, including a new Sales & Loyalty team headed by Jean-Pascal van Overbeke, will work alongside and service the two new customer teams. As well as ensuring total focus on the customer, the new structure is designed to ensure the mobile and broadband teams work more effectively together to deliver unique services that go beyond standard fixed or on-the-move services. A New Business, Wholesale and Strategy team, led by Marc Overton, is also being created and is tasked with uncovering new business and revenue opportunities as well as developing Orange’s wholesale and MVNO business.

To support this focus around the customer, Orange is planning to create up to 500 new roles in frontline customer service and retail by the end of the year. At the same time, in order to increase customer focus, remove duplication and improve responsiveness and efficiency, Orange is proposing to streamline administration, management and support functions, which is likely to result in a reduction of up to 450 roles.

Tom Alexander added: “The signs of a resurgent Orange have been borne out in our financial results over the past 12 months and it is my aim to build on this momentum. We will improve, evolve and grow this great business, this great brand. I believe Orange stands for premium service, great quality and fabulous value for money. That ambition will continue to drive the way we run our business and serve our customers.”

via Orange Press Release by email