Annual
report 2020

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PL

Impact on society

Our commitment KPI Performance
To expand access to new technologies for residents of small towns – digital development of local communities Number of participants (residents of small towns and villages) in educational activities 81 Orange Studios in villages and small town for 729,000 residents
To develop digital competencies among children and schools Number of participants (schools, children) in educational programmes 150 schools and 3,000 children in MegaMission Programme 140 schools and 2,866 children in #SuperCoders programme
To provide and support education on children’s online safety in schools and kindergartens all around Poland with the Safety on the internet programme Number of participants (children) in Safety on the internet programme 984 029 children using education materials

9.0 bn PLN

of Poland’s GDP generated by our services

99.9 %

of Poland’s population covered by our 4G network

5 million

households connectable with our fibre network (offering speeds of 300 Mbps or more)

154

cities connectable with our fibre network

11.3 million PLN

spent on social programmes and support to NGOs

41 k

jobs generated in other companies as a result of their co-operation with Orange Polska

7.2 million PLN

raised for NGOs from charity SMSs sent by our customers

4.6 k

educational institutions ran social programmes supported by Orange Polska

Delivery on our commitments in 2020

Orange Polska plays a special role in stimulating economic development.

The telecommunication services and technologies that we provide are the lifeblood of a modern, effective and competitive knowledge-based economy. The Company’s infrastructure is used not only by individual users but also by other companies. The role of Orange Polska as a provider of ICT infrastructure is particularly important outside big cities, in rural and semi-rural areas that are less digitally connected.

The availability of new technologies influences whether we are willing and able to live in a particular location; it also determines whether our businesses can compete with others, choose the best offers, find appropriate employees or ensure smooth collaboration. As an ICT infrastructure provider, we have the power to enhance the investment attractiveness of particular regions and locations.

Digital technology has become a critical factor in the pursuit of a good life; as a result, social exclusion is now a digital issue. By providing telecommunications services we facilitate communication between people; we strive to ensure that everyone, regardless of their place of residence, income, age or ability, has access to the opportunities offered by new technologies.

During the pandemic, we were able to see how important a role new technologies play in our work, science, public hearing and social life.

Orange's social engagement in the pandemic

One of the key activities of Orange Polska as a mobile operator is to ensure efficient communication in hospitals served by the network. We have expanded network capacity at sites servicing sensitive locations and have secured portable sites, enabling quick reaction if necessary by providing additional network capacity at selected locations.

We have implemented priority FIX service procedures for infectious-disease hospitals, and established direct contact with network administrators in hospitals to be able to react as quickly as possible in case of a failure. We have launched an SMS service (24/7) providing information about the coronavirus risk in Poland for customers returning to the country and for foreigners logging on. The mechanism is managed by a custom-built service.

We provided technological support (telephones and SIM cards) for the Neonatology Clinic of the Polish Mother’s Memorial Hospital Research Institute in Łódź. The Neonatology Ward was closed to visitors, even parents of premature babies. Telephones are needed to take photos and videos of children and send them to their parents. Orange Polska also joined the Coalition of Companies supporting the fight against the coronavirus, providing Warsaw Genomics with financial support to perform additional virus tests. The Orange Foundation helped the Children’s Memorial Health Institute by purchasing a computer that facilitates remote consultations.

A week after schools closed, the Orange Foundation invited teachers to webinars about methods of teaching on the Internet. As part of the MegaMission programme, a total of 1,708 participants took part in six open meetings presenting techniques and useful tools for working remotely with students. A further 5,333 people took part in six webinars under the Lesson:Enter programme dedicated to similar topics. The Foundation has also made available tutorials on how to use the tools that diversify remote learning.

They were watched by more than 34,000 teachers. If we add these figures, it turns out that Orange‘s educational activities could reach every tenth teacher in Poland.

Orange organised the Pomagajmy Gigabajtami (Let‘s Help with Gigabytes) campaign. It allowed Orange customers to donate unused gigabytes from their Internet packages for tablets for children from orphanages in Silesia. In the first two weeks of the campaign alone, 10,000 of our customers joined in. Orange has donated 160 tablets with free internet to children‘s homes. Thanks to the Orange Foundation, 12 children‘s homes and SOS Children‘s Villages received the hardware needed for online lessons – computers with software, headphones and cameras.

We also invited Orange Flex customers to help children with access to education. In April, in less than 24 hours, they donated unused GB and thus collected a fixed pool, which Orange doubled. A total of 10,000 GB was exchanged for 1,000 LTE modems with Orange Flex cards, which were delivered to 44 schools in 36 locations.

Orange Polska has prepared an offer for students and teachers: as part of Orange Flex they could use the Internet for two months for PLN 1 per month. This means that they had up to 200 GB of data transfer to be used in two months for online learning. With the beginning of the academic year we also supported university students. All current and new Orange Flex users with the student status could activate an additional 100 GB package for free, valid for 180 days. GB could be used freely, for learning and entertainment.

For students, Edu Pass was also launched, i.e. free data transfer to the most popular educational services, such as Librus, Vulcan or Matzoo.

It wasn’t just young people who experienced new and deepening problems because of pandemicrelated isolation. Orange has been involved in setting up a support network for people in crisis who had difficulty accessing assistance in the pandemic. The telecoms operator supported, among others, webinars by the Polish Suicidology Society and Empowering Children Foundation on providing online psychological assistance, which were planned in response to the demand of psychologists who wanted to help online but did not know how to do it. The webinars were attended by 8,360 participants.

The following also received support:

  • Empowering Children Foundation and its 116 000 helpline have received many years of support to help solve problems for children and young people.
  • Find Help Foundation – for the launch of a helpline for people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with psychologists providing psychological support to all who need it.
  • Sławek Foundation – a helpline for families in crisis and people drinking dangerously during home isolation. Assistance provided by qualified psychologists.
  • Women‘s Rights Centre Foundation – technological support (SIM cards) for providing psychological and legal assistance to women in need.

Orange Foundation

An important element of our responsibility is constituted by the activities of the Orange Foundation focusing on social programmes which concern modern technologies. The strengthening of digital competence, safety of the youngest web surfers, and finally providing inhabitants of small towns with access to information, knowledge and technology – these are the most important activities of the Orange Foundation. Our programmes reflect the strategic idea of our thinking and local activities. We listen to people’s needs, we co-operate with experts and social partners, and then we suggest solutions which may be used by the society, school and non-governmental organization. Since 2005, we help not only by committing our money, but also our knowledge and skills.

Thanks to Orange Foundation we:

  • teach children and parents online safety rules
  • support modern digital education for children and youth
  • help residents of small towns develop digital literacy
  • inspire people to use modern technologies wisely and creatively
  • conduct studies on digitisation and the use of technology in Poland
  • run nationwide educational projects for schools
  • connect people who need help with our volunteers.

Orange Foundation programs: Orange Studios, MegaMission, #SuperCoders, Lesson:Enter, FabLab, Safety Here and There and Orange Corporate Volunteering

In order to facilitate access to information, knowledge and technology among local communities, we have developed Orange Studios.

Orange Studios are public multimedia studios in small towns and villages, which we create and help to manage. Their purpose is to provide members of the local community with access to new technologies, courses and workshops. The studio leaders are provided with professional training and financial aid to help them manage these modern and attractive meeting places. To date, we have set up a total of 100 Orange Studios across the country. In addition, we have launched an online knowledge-sharing platform for their users. It features a portfolio of ready-toimplement projects and a gamification module that uses game mechanisms to build social skills and motivate residents to work for the benefit of their neighbourhoods. The initiatives are aimed at different groups: children and youth, people with disabilities, young mothers and senior citizens. In 2020, the equipment in the oldest Studios was replaced or retrofitted. In addition, a makerspace (a space supporting the use of new technologies in a DIY approach) was launched in five Orange Studios.

Export to Excel

Orange Studios 2019 2020
Active Studios maintained 65 81
Local leaders trained in digital and organisational skills 138 46
Population with access to Studios 585,000 729,000

MegaMission is a nationwide educational programme for primary schools. 

It can be carried out during lessons or in after-school clubs. It is addressed to kids aged 6 to 10 and their teachers. We aim to enhance knowledge and digital competence of teachers and after-school educators and their pupils. We want children to be safe and conscious multimedia users, and we want their teachers to have access to proven materials which they can use to deliver modern classes. MegaMission provides a solid basis for wisely and safely navigating the world in which we can no longer function without technology. Due to the closure of schools and the need to support teachers, the programme was modified to include a number of additional webinars for teachers to assist them in coping with the remote education challenges. School closure was also reflected in a decrease in the number of children participating in the programme in 2020.

Export to Excel

MegaMission 2019 2020
Children trained in the programme 7,000 3,000
Teachers trained in the programme 150 150
School facilities provided with IT equipment and teaching aids 150 150

#SuperCoders is a nationwide educational programme aimed at primary school students of grades 4 to 8. Its key element is learning the skill of programming in an innovative manner, as it takes place during science, mathematics, history, music or Polish language classes rather than IT classes. 

All teaching materials have been based on the Polish school curriculum. Young #SuperCoders develop teamwork skills, creativity and logical thinking. A separate path has been launched for children with special educational needs. The teachers participating in the programme are offered professional training and technical support by expert educators. In 2020, a new educational path was incorporated into the programme. Due to the closure of schools, an additional series of remote classes for children, ‘Mornings with #SuperCoders’, was introduced.

Export to Excel

#SuperCoders 2019 2020
Children trained in the programme 2,894 2,866
Teachers trained in the programme 300 280
Schools provided with equipment to teach programming 150 140

Lesson:Enter is a nationwide digital education programme addressed to teachers and aimed to enhance their digital skills. 

More than 75,000 teachers (15% from each region of Poland) will be trained in 2020–2023. The programme prepares teachers to use activating teaching methods. They learn how to use educational websites and portals, e-resources and various applications in a responsible and creative way, while observing safety precautions. Training includes a hands-on component, in which teachers create their own digital content for future use during their lessons.

The programme is carried out in conjunction with the Information Society Development Foundation and Institute of Public Affairs. It is implemented in the re-granting scheme by in-service teacher training centres in collaboration with local governments or non governmental organisations. In 2020, we provided financial and technical support to 54 grant projects. The programme was joined by 1,739 schools, and 7,890 teachers began their training. The programme is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund in the Digital Poland Operational Programme with almost PLN 49 million.

In two cities, Warsaw and Gdańsk, Orange Polska has created FabLabs (fabrication laboratories), that is open studios for people who want to learn how to use modern technologies in a creative way.

FabLabs offer support by experienced educators, professional equipment and free workshops for children and young people. FabLab in Gdańsk carried out a project supporting women in the labour market, while FabLab in Warsaw launched a series of classes for children and young people, ‘FabLab at Home’. FabLabs and selected Orange Studios became involved in the 3D printing of visors for medical staff.

One of the most important issues for us is the safety of children and young people on the internet and preparing young people to use new media in a conscious way.

These goals are pursued through educational activities of the Orange Foundation and the Group’s services related to customer safety. We support education on children’s on-line safety in schools and kindergartens all around Poland. The Orange Foundation, in co-operation with the Empowering Children Foundation, offers a range of educational tools and materials, such as e-learning and educational websites, on-line brochures and guidelines for pupils, parents and teachers. Adults (especially educators and specialists) can participate in conferences, seminars and workshops, as well as use an on-line interactive course for parents and guardians teaching them how to protect their children on-line.

Furthermore, in 2020, the Orange Foundation was a partner to the ‘Protect your child’s brain!’ campaign carried out by the Empowering Children Foundation. The campaign, which promoted introducing screen rules for kids, reached 3,316,064 people.

Export to Excel

Safe Use of New Technologies 2019 2020
Parents and guardians using the educational materials 418,365 174,917
Children involved in the educational initiatives 1,114,868 984,029
Schools participating in the initiatives 3,977 4,600

Seniors

Orange Polska has OK SENIOR quality certificate awarded by the National Institute for Silver Economy, for call centre service and for POS. 

We introduced facilities for seniors at our call centre to meet the needs of our senior customers, who could not always cope with the extensive menu, namely: automatic menu shortened to a minimum, dedicated advisors, unlimited talk time. In addition, all letters addressed to senior customers are printed using a bigger font.

We also provide workshops for seniors on how to use new technologies. In 2019, we organised stationary workshops for seniors at Orange Studios and elsewhere. In the field of digital education, we co-operate with the National Institute of Senior Economy and we are a partner of the educational and information portal for seniors – ABC Senior. In 2020, due to the pandemic, we implemented online courses for seniors – ABC of the digital world with a smartphone. There were two series of classes, eight workshops each, and the programme was attended by over 300 seniors.

We have prepared a Senior Policy for Orange Polska, in which facilities for seniors, digital education and dedicated communication. The strategy will be implemented from 2021.

Orange Fab

At Orange Fab, we develop, test and implement innovative solutions.

Startups can rely on mentoring, technical support in the field of access to cloud platforms, such as Live Objects, Integrated Computing and LTE-M or 5G connectivity, as well as the possibility of jointly offering their products and services with Orange Poland. For Orange, such cooperation means access to unconventional ideas, technologies and business models of our partners. This allows us to identify, define and present new sources of income or savings and build a competitive advantage.

As with most companies, 2020 was a period full of challenges and unexpected changes for us. From the very beginning, our activities focused on the digital transformation of business. We put emphasis on it both when meeting the internal needs of Orange and when preparing products and services for our customers. In the context of COVID-19, the development of new technologies has become more important. Digitisation has proven to be the best way to survive a pandemic. Our earlier approach was therefore in line with the current situation. In activities supporting internal digitisation in Orange, we focused on increasing the effectiveness of online campaigns as well as AR and VR technologies in order to create attractive tools to improve customer service and training for our employees. We have also taken steps to increase the efficiency of the process of creating and modifying applications in an integrated IT environment, to take into account the dynamically changing amount and structure of data.

While working on solutions for our clients, we have chosen to simplify their business operations as a priority. We focused mainly on digitization and automation of processes in areas such as cashless payments, remote data reading and management of heating and energy infrastructure, taking into account both renewable energy sources and the receivers themselves.

The most important implementations in cooperation with startups in the past year:

  • an analytical platform that integrates business data from various sources in one place. This allows the marketing area to implement more effective promotional campaigns in the online channel.
  • solutions for remote reading of electricity meters and controller for managing heat nodes using LTE-M technology. These solutions enabled the creation of new IoT services for the energy and heating sector.
  • the virtual Orange Laboratory, thanks to which customer service employees, using VR technology, learn about the devices and services that customers use. These are, among others: Smart WiFi Box, FunBox, Orange TV GO or a multi-recorder.
  • Android and IoS mobile application that allows to accept BLIK payments using a smartphone.

We implemented projects in partnerships with other accelerators, including Space3ac, Accelpoint, Brinc, and The Heart. Only as part of cooperation with Space3ac, we analyzed over 300 submitted ideas in order to choose solutions that best fit our development needs and the needs of our clients.

The positive results of co-operation with companies as part of Orange Fab in 2020 have shown us that it’s the right strategy, and we want it to continue. We see that companies emerging from the acceleration umbrella become reliable business partners, and this opens up the prospect of longterm co-operation beneficial to both parties.

Support for start-ups

Orange Polska has been a partner of the Sektor 3.0 Fund for 3 years.

It is a program supporting the creation of new tools, applications and digital products that fit the idea of #TechForGood and the digital transformation of social organizations. The fund is a combination of financial support, knowledge and experience necessary to implement the new technology. Experts from Orange Polska are among people who educate and advise startups in the development and implementation of their ideas.

Orange Polska is a partner of the project Startups of Positive Impact. This programme is addressed to enterprises created in the last five years, which implement innovative business models generating economic and social benefits simultaneously. A ‘startup of positive impact’ is an innovative form of entrepreneurship that creates sustainable value directed at changes in quality and in patterns of lifestyle, production and consumption. Kozminski Business Hub thus starts the process of building an ecosystem of positive impact in the Kozminski University, with the participation of leaders of the Responsible Companies Ranking and the best startups of positive impact in Poland.

Sponsorship

Orange Polska has adopted a sponsorship policy.

Our approach reflects the global sponsorship strategy of the Orange Group. In our strategic sponsoring area, which currently is music, we develop long-term, comprehensive, nationwide projects addressed to a large group of our existing or prospective customers. We sponsor various initiatives on a long-term rather than one-off basis. Key projects are subject to approval by the Management Board of Orange Polska. We have established the Sponsorship Committee to centralise project management of sponsorship opportunities in the Orange Polska Group.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Orange music festivals were not held in their usual spots in 2020. However, an on-line event, Open’er Festival Powered by Orange: TAKE ME THERE!, was organised, which involved rebroadcast of 23 best concerts from the last ten editions of Open’er Festival. The event comprised 30 hours of on-line concerts and over 113 hours of streaming.

Grants

As part of its donation policy, Orange Polska has adopted formal rules for using the Donation Fund. These are specified in the relevant Decision of the Board Member in charge of Strategy and Corporate Affairs.

Orange Polska S.A. follows clear and transparent rules in making donations:

  • Any donation requires analysis and recommendation;
  • Any donation is subject to approval by the President of the Management Board of Orange Polska;
  • Any donation is made under a written donation agreement;
  • All donations are effected by transfers and registered in the accounting systems of Orange Polska;
  • Each agreement includes a requirement to confirm that the donation has been used in line with its purpose.

Furthermore, Orange Polska provides free of charge dedicated fundraising numbers for charity SMS messaging. All the receipts are subsequently transferred to social causes, such as social campaigns and programmes, assistance to the victims of natural or man-made disasters, or initiatives saving human life and health.

For years, we have provided charity SMS messaging to a number of charity organisations, including Caritas Polska, Polsat Foundation, TVN Foundation, Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity and Work of the New Millennium Foundation. In 2020, fundraising numbers were launched for 15 organisations, which raised a total of over PLN 7.2 million.

Export to Excel

Grants 2019 2020
Total support granted, (in PLN millions) 9.3 11.3

Co-operation with government institutions

Orange Polska is a signatory to Poland’s Declaration of Co-operation for the Safety of Children Online.

The signatories of the Declaration are the Minister of Digitization, the Minister of National Education, the Ombudsman for Children, representatives of state institutions, media, internet portals and telecommunication operators. The Working Group on Child Safety and Youth on the Internet has been set up. The priority of the work of this team will be to develop solutions and present proposed actions in the field of secure internet access for the youngest users.

Orange Polska is a signatory of Pact for Accessibility plus 2018-2025. The Pact is a commitment to cooperate in order to implement the objectives of the governmental Accessibility plus programme to eliminate barriers in the lives of people with disabilities. The signatories of the document undertake to manage the idea of accessibility and equal treatment, and together aim to equalize opportunities and access for all citizens to the physical, social and cultural environment, alongside recreation, leisure, sport, health care, education, work, transport, information and means of communication.

Orange Polska has signed a declaration of the participants of the Ombudsman’s Round Table to fight pathologies on the Internet, including the limitations of pathological streaming and its destructive social and educational consequences. The members of the coalition are lawyers, scientists, representatives of public authorities, non-governmental organizations, technology companies as well as youtubers and journalists.

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