Orange connects the Tour de France and your emotions

• On 7-29 July, during all 21 stages, Orange’s teams will be mobilised to bring the Tour de France to the rest of the world.
• Orange’s ambition is to bring cycling enthusiasts all the passion and enjoyment of one of the world’s most watched sports competitions.
• The unrivalled technological prowess is made possible with meticulous planning and anticipation that showcases Orange’s technical expertise.

Orange has supported the Tour de France for over 20 years through the deployment of innovative technology that is unique and specific to this competition. Every day, Orange will be deploying tailored solutions to ensure that the global media coverage and the race itself both run smoothly. During the three-week race covering some 3,351 km, more than seventy Orange experts and technicians will be mobilised to produce the unique infrastructure and meet the network needs of its French customers.

The Tour de France is also a means of developing the digital infrastructure across the country. Over the past twenty years, the networks deployed for the Tour de France have enhanced the permanent coverage for towns and some unique locations around France. As such, eleven sites will receive permanent fibre optic installations, while 22 towns will receive definitive 4G mobile relays.

• 3 semi-trailers
• 12 tonnes of equipment
• 25 km of cables for communication solutions
• 24 antennas to reinforce the mobile network coverage
• 450 back office technicians
• 6 PABX, 3 ISAM and 8 Wi-Fi networks at the end of each stage
• 220 km of optical fibre cables up to the finish line
• 500 temporary phone lines
• More than 6,300 hours of broadcasting in nearly 190 countries around the world
• 1.4million minutes of internet connections throughout the race

• Boosted 4G cover to 467 towns including 376 in the 10-km area surrounding the race
• 8 Wi-Fi networks deployed in each Tour de France village with an equivalent rate of 200 MB/s able to handle more than 10,000 simultaneous connections.
• In addition to the Wi-Fi in the technical areas and at each finish line, the Orange teams will perform Li-Fi demonstrations - a wireless optical network to transmit data via LED for a more secure, faster and more environmentally-friendly connection.
• A virtual reality demonstration in the “fan parks” will enable enthusiasts to experience the famous series of downhill hairpin bends at Montvernier on the bike of former Tour de France yellow jersey Charly Mottet.
• And to reinforce security for all, Orange will supply a video surveillance system and security operations centre with seven infrared HD cameras.

• This year, Orange is providing the installation at the finish line at Col du Portet, the highest finish line in Pyrenees since the Tour de France began. 19 km of fibre optic cables are needed to cover three zones.
• The stages in the Basque Country, with a complex race against the clock and night transfer to Paris for the last stage, will provide a major challenge for Orange’s technical teams.

To find out more about Orange and the Tour de France: Digital press kit

About Orange

Orange is one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators with sales of 41 billion euros in 2017 and 150,000 employees worldwide at 31 March 2018, including 91,000 employees in France. The Group has a total customer base of 263 million customers worldwide at 31 March 2018, including 202 million mobile customers and 20 million fixed broadband customers. The Group is present in 28 countries. Orange is also a leading provider of global IT and telecommunication services to multinational companies, under the brand Orange Business Services. In March 2015, the Group presented its new strategic plan “Essentials2020” which places customer experience at the heart of its strategy with the aim of allowing them to benefit fully from the digital universe and the power of its new generation networks.

Orange is listed on Euronext Paris (symbol ORA) and on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol ORAN).

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