Orange has outlined a new strategic plan designed to underpin the company's growth, covering the period to 2025.

Its 'Lead the Future' plan will capitalize on its core business, with the plan split into four key pillars.

“This plan aims to enhance and develop these strengths to position Orange as the group that builds the future of telecoms and digital solutions. Our aim is to achieve sustainable growth, particularly in cybersecurity, in Africa, and in the Middle East," said Heydemann.

"We have already taken the first steps with the sale of OCS, the consolidation projects in Spain and Belgium, and targeted acquisitions in cybersecurity. To succeed, three principles will guide the company over the coming years: performance, excellence, and trust."

For the first pillar, Orange said it aims to capitalize on its core business noting its success across mobile and its Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) rollout, which now sits at more than 46 million homes across Europe.

The company plans to achieve this goal by implementing AI to provide customers with a more personalized and seamless experience.

The company also alluded to its imminent merger with MásMóvil in Spain, while outlining plans to enhance its satellite offerings this year through a partnership with Eutelsat.

The second pillar focuses on Orange aiming to capitalize on infrastructure across all the countries the Group operates in. More specifically, Orange said that it will focus on continuing to modernize its network, including the decommissioning of its 2G and 3G networks in Europe, and the deployment of more 4G and 5G coverage in its African markets.

Orange also plans to deploy, operate, and market fiber connections across its markets, aiming to deploy an additional five million fiber connections in Europe, plus two million connections in the MEA region by 2025.

Earlier this week, the company launched its 5G Standalone (SA) network in Spain and has plans to embark on further enhancements to its 5G service.

For the third pillar, the company intends to transform its business offering, with the operator rebranding its Orange Business Services to just Orange Business. It is aiming to become a leader in the European cybersecurity field and is targeting revenues of €1.3 billion ($1.39bn) by 2025.

The fourth and final pillar is around the operator's expansion across Africa and the Middle East, with the company keen to achieve average annual revenue growth of seven percent between 2022 and 2025. This follows on from comments made by Jocelyn Karakula, CTIO, Orange MEA, in an interview with DCD last year, where he said that the group will continue its 5G expansion across Africa, country by country.

Last year, Orange deployed its first 5G network in Africa, in Botswana, and has earmarked plans to do the same in Ivory Coast and Senegal.

'Lead the Future' was announced as Orange revealed its latest financial results, noting an increase in revenue of 1.3 percent year-on-year (YoY) to €11.4bn ($12.18bn), driven by strong retail performances.

Orange's performance in Europe grew by 2.1 percent to €2.9bn ($3.1bn), while its revenue in Africa and the Middle East rose by 5.7 percent to €1.8bn ($1.92bn).

A reminder of the recent Orange reshuffle...

This latest announcement follows a recent reshuffle across Orange's European divisions.

Last month, Orange revealed that the CEO of its Spanish business, Jean-François Fallacher, had been appointed as CEO of its French business.

Ludovic Pech, the current chief financial officer of Orange Middle East & Africa, will replace Fallacher as CEO of Orange Spain.

In January, the company's Belgian business signed 15-year wholesale agreements for fixed network access with Telenet, providing both operators with access to each other's fixed networks.