Orange scales back broadband plans

 

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By Reuters

Posted on 6 Nov 2008 at 08:41

Orange has slowed its fixed-line broadband roll-out and returned to the drawing board on its planned IPTV service, as it grapples with the competitive British market.

Speaking at a press briefing, Tom Alexander, chief executive of Orange UK, claimsthe company had scaled back its broadband roll-out to focus on improving the quality of service rather than simply going for growth.

The company is building its own broadband network, rather than renting lines from BT, allowing it to take more control of its service, while securing better profits.

Orange has just over one million users signed to its fixed-line broadband service and is ranked sixth in Britain behind BT, Virgin Media, Carphone Warehouse, Tiscali and BSkyB.

Alexander claims the group is also reviewing its plans to launch an IPTV service because it is not happy with the service.

Alexander says Orange ran a trial of the TV service in Britain, and was ready to roll it out nationwide. However, the company decided it was too similar to a TV offering from BT, BT Vision, and wanted to rethink how the service should work.