France
All the latest key telecoms and digital infra insight, news and analysis from France.
Eventwatch
France’s Scaleway bulks up to meet demand for sovereign AI
Iliad is scaling up its European AI ambitions through Scaleway, adding cloud and GPU capacity as demand for sovereign infrastructure grows. New enterprise wins suggest the investment is also starting to strengthen the Group’s B2B proposition.
Peoplewatch
Orange Peoplewatch: Group crowns cloud platform lead
October 2026 edition: 25+ senior and strategic leadership changes at Orange, including Adrienne Jan taking the top spot at new Unified Cloud Platform, a B2B leadership revamp at Orange Belgium, and a new enterprise chief in Poland…
Network
Vodafone lights up core for Express Capacity launch
As demand for AI infrastructure accelerates, Vodafone is targeting a spot at the intersection of cloud expansion, digital sovereignty, and international connectivity with a faster, more automated transport service.
Infra
Orange advances European ‘AI highways’ with subsea cable expansion
Orange is expanding its subsea footprint once again, backing the Pisces cable project linking Ireland with France, Spain, and Portugal as the operator deepens its push to build the connectivity foundations of Europe’s sovereign AI ambitions.
Finance & Strategy
Telia trims headcount as Europe leans on efficiency
Telia becomes the latest European telco to announce a round of job cuts, joining a trend of operators reshape workforces, decentralise decision-making, and seek higher returns from maturing fibre and 5G investments.
B2B
Orange Business gains second SecNumCloud visa for AI focused cloud offering
Orange Business has secured a second SecNumCloud 3.2 qualification, strengthening its position in France’s rapidly evolving sovereign cloud market just as trusted cloud requirements become increasingly embedded in law.
Special Report
Network APIs find their market, but where’s the money?
Special Report #1/4: in the first part of a four-part series on network APIs, we look at the scale (or otherwise) of operator revenue from the interfaces and the main use-cases driving it: namely fraud prevention and identity authentication.
Special Report
Exposing network APIs was the first step — building the business model is harder
Special Report #2/4: telcos still have a lot of work to do to develop API-based offerings that resonate with the requirements of users, observers say.
Special Report
Aduna’s Peter Arbitter explains API JV is ‘not in it for the money’
Special Report #3/4: Aduna was created to give developers an easier way to access telcos’ network APIs globally. But the Ericsson-backed joint venture is discovering that aggregation is only part of its job as it wrestles with performance, getting operators to expose enough useful APIs, and turning the interest using them into telco revenues.
Peoplewatch
France Peoplewatch: Orange names new cloud lead; Bouygues’ B2B reorg
Latest strategic people moves in the French telecoms and digital infra sectors, including: Orange naming the CEO of its Unified Cloud Platform; new appointments at Bouygues Telecom following B2B division restructuring; and Eurofiber recruiting a fresh head of French operations…
Venturing & Investments
Orange backs startup Biolevate in pharma AI push
Orange Ventures co‑led a Series A funding round for the health‑tech specialist.