Our strategy

Our comprehensive customer experience management is based on customer journey management. For the purpose of customer experience design, we use modern methodologies – Customer Journey Design and Design Thinking – which account for customer needs, opinions and emotions.

Over recent years we have focused on the development of digital paths of customer journey, introducing a number of innovative and often revolutionary solutions to the Polish telecom market:

• Voicebot implementation: Since 2019, Max, our voicebot, has been answering 100% of customer calls to our main infolines. Its use of self-service systems – the percentage of issues which Max can resolve without a consultant – has growing steadily. If contact with a human being is necessary, Max forwards the call to the right consultant; as a result, the number of internal call transfers between consultants has fallen by more than one-third.
• Chat development: We expanded the scope of AI-based assistance to include text chat (chatbot Max).
• Robotic Process Automation (RPA): Further automation of customer care processes and implementation of innovative automated solutions (e.g. a bot/robot combination) have cut costs and improved operational efficiency by reducing time to complete, enhancing service quality and eliminating errors in business operations. In 2020, Orange Polska’s customer operations were supported by more than 100 robots.
• New invoices: We introduced a new, clear and friendly invoice layout for customers of fixed, mobile and convergent services; a great majority of our invoices are delivered to customers in electronic form.
• Fully digital Orange Flex offer: Using a dedicated application, customers can conclude an agreement with us, activate the service with e-SIM and subsequently handle all matters on their own or through chat.
• Utech: We have implemented an interactive system for contacting our technical personnel regarding fixed-line installation or failures, which is based on an Internet link. This enables customers to directly contact the technicians commissioned with the task and to monitor the progress of work, including the geographical location of the installation or repairs team (like in the case of some companies offering transport services). In 2020, 500,000 customers used this solution and their satisfaction was significantly higher than in cases using traditional contact channels.

We involve our entire organisation, from frontline customer service personnel to the Management Board, in reinforcing our customer-centric culture. Each key decision is considered in terms of customer benefits. The senior management regularly reviews customer satisfaction surveys, identifying the required actions. Such review meetings with the Management Board are regularly attended by special guests: customers, who share their experience with Orange.

Since 2018, we have provided an internal e-platform, the Innovation Board. In particular, it is used for sharing knowledge and ideas about customer experience improvements. As a result, all employees can contribute their ideas for customer service enhancements, vote for others’ ideas, and participate in discussions. The best ideas are implemented. This produces tangible results: almost 200 ideas were submitted in the fourth quarter of 2020 alone, of which 30 were earmarked for implementation.

At Orange, we attach great importance to constantly enhancing our processes. Therefore, each Orange employee has an opportunity to get involved in improving customer experience quality through participation in ‘Listen and Respond Clubs’, which adopt a constant improvement methodology. Almost 730 such clubs with a total of about 3,700 employees involved in improvement initiatives have been established so far.

Until 2018 our financial results were in continuous decline for a number of years.

This was chiefly related to the following factors:

• Adjusting to a very high level of competition, mainly in mobile services, in order to defend market shares.
• Very high exposure to fixed-line telephony, which is being effectively substituted by affordable mobile services.
• Regulatory regime limiting flexibility in terms of shaping commercial offers.

Proper implementation of the Orange.one strategy was supposed to lead to the development of a business model that would enable us to break this negative trend and gradually return to sustainable growth. In 2018 our adjusted EBITDA increased year-on-year. This was the first growth after 12 successive years of decline. Our revenues continued to decline; however the trend visibly improved. In 2019 we sustained growth of EBITDAaL (EBITDA after leases – our new profitability measure, under new accounting standard IFRS16) and also grew our revenues, for the first time in 13 years.

We have delivered on all of our financial goals set in Orange.one in each of year of the strategy. In some cases we even exceeded the initial expectations. Our revenues have been growing for the past two years and EBITDAaL for the past three years. We have kept capex within the limits and have significantly progressed with debt reduction.

In 2018, Orange Polska implemented the new accounting standard, IFRS 15. This standard changes the timing of revenue recognition for mobile contracts with subsidised handsets. Under IFRS 15, Orange Polska recognises more revenue upfront (as equipment revenue reflects the full value of the handset) and less revenue throughout the contract period (as service revenue is reduced by the amount of subsidy).

From 2019, Orange Polska is reporting its financial results under the new accounting standard IFRS16. The key objective of the new standard is to provide a single accounting method for lessees applicable to all lease contracts. Under IFRS 16, lessees recognise an asset in the balance sheet representing the right to use the leased assets in correspondence with the liability related to the lease obligations.

This change has been achieved through a combination of a progressive commercial turnaround and our focus on value coupled with great cost optimisation.

We have successfully implemented our convergent strategy, which was made possible thanks to the dynamic growth of fibre as monetisation of our considerable investments in this area has begun. A key element of this success was our particular attention to value in our commercial activities including ‘more for more’ price increases in mobile, convergence and fixed broadband. We also significantly developed the ICT area, which offers high growth potential and considerable synergies with our core telecom operations. These synergies have recently become higher than ever owing to ongoing digitalisation processes in enterprises. Over the last three years, we have increased our ICT revenues by 120%, mainly through organic development supplemented by acquisitions.

Simultaneously, we achieved very high cost savings. Since 2017 we have optimised indirect costs by almost PLN 600 million or 15%. This was done despite inflationary pressures in areas such as labour or electricity costs, so the effort to achieve the savings was even greater. Savings were generated across all cost groups, including labour, outsourcing, general and administrative, energy and network maintenance costs. They resulted from the comprehensive transformation of Orange Polska’s processes at each stage of our business model: networks, products and services, distribution and customer care. The process transformation aimed at simplification, automation and digitisation.

Operating profitability has been improving despite continued structural pressure on high-margin traditional fixed-line services, the erosion of which almost fully filters through to profits. The growing operating profitability has led to an increase in cash generation and a decrease in net debt and leverage ratio.

We reversed multi-year negative trends and delivered a financial turnaround

In presenting the Orange.one strategy we also discussed our ambitions regarding development of digital relations with customers and growth in certain adjacent areas, including: Orange Finance, Orange Energy, sale of devices and Orange Smart Care. We made significant progress in these areas, but we see much more room for further improvement and we will address this in our next strategic period.

Our shops remain the most important distribution channel, but we are gradually increasing our share of online sales. We obviously benefit from digitisation of the economy accelerated by the pandemic. We have an ambition to increase our pace of digitisation – through better and more popular IT tools and simpler processes.

We have succeeded in some adjacent areas and failed in others, as should be expected when developing new areas of operations. We gave up Orange Finance a few years ago as we concluded that the model of operations was not optimal. We continue to develop Orange Energy, though it is a challenge given the complicated nature of the energy market. We have ideas on how to grow Orange Energy further, taking into account changes such as the focus on green energy. Sale of devices has grown dynamically. In 2018 we introduced the option for customers to buy equipment independently of their contract for service, which is growing every year. Nonetheless, we believe that we can and should be able to secure a greater share of this market from the retail chains. Finally, we are very pleased with Orange Smart Care as a value-added service. In Orange Smart Care, the customer pays a monthly fee insuring his smartphone against various damages. Revenue growth is very significant here. Every third smartphone we sold in 2020 included Orange Smart Care.

So even though not everything went perfectly, we easily reached the targeted combined level of revenues from these areas.

We intend to announce our new strategy in June of 2021. We expect it to be the continuation of Orange.one in its main pillars, while adding some new elements. Certainly, its most important element will be the 5G network development, which opens up a lot of new perspectives in both business and consumer markets. The FiberCo project that we have recently announced will mark our different approach to expanding the pool for our fibre service. This endeavour will allow for investment monetisation in retail and in wholesale operations.

We also want to become a more innovative company, focusing to a greater extent on artificial intelligence and virtual reality. Furthermore, there are growing volumes of data globally which need to be stored and analysed, and we want to be involved in this process. We see development opportunities for our Company in the area of digitisation of e.g. sales and customer-relations processes.

Importantly, we strive to consider the impact of our operations on both the economy and the environment, so sustainable development will be another major element. We intend to diversify our energy mix, so that a portion of it will come from renewable sources. We will assist our customers in making more eco-friendly choices, such as by enabling the recycling of broken handsets and buy-back of those no longer used.

Finally, from financial perspectives our ambition is to continue to improve our results, but unlike in the Orange.one strategy we want growth in the new plan to stem mainly from profitable revenue growth rather than from cost savings.

We also aim to better utilise our assets which should benefit our ROCE (return on capital employed) ratio. We would like also to return to shareholder remuneration.

Understanding and internalising the climate-related risks and opportunities of the modern green context is a must in today’s business environment.

Climate has also become an important driver for long-term value creation for all our stakeholders: customers, employees, shareholders, local communities and society at large and, obviously, the environment.

At Orange Polska, we have always prioritised our environmental responsibility, and we are convinced that green must be an integral part of both our strategy and day-to-day business activities. Everything that we plan and do, within Orange Polska’s internal and external activities, must be put within a green context. We have named this approach #OrangeGoesGreen.

Within this framework we have developed a climate strategy at Orange Polska of which the key goal is to become climate neutral and achieve Net Zero Carbon by 2040, ten years ahead of the EU climate goals in the Green Deal Strategy or the GSMA recommendations for telecoms operators. Neutrality will cover both direct and indirect own emissions (Scopes 1 and 2 of the GHG Protocol) and emissions in the value chain (Scope 3).

Our first period of action is 2025 and during this period our actions will be concentrated in the three main priorities.

Priority 1: Responsibility for reducing our CO2 emissions and the resources we consume.

• Reducing our CO2 emissions in Scopes 1 and 2 of the GHG Protocol (direct and indirect own emissions) by 65% compared to 2015.
• This goal will be achieved primarily through increasing the share of renewable energy in our energy mix to at least 60% by 2025, based on long-term procurement agreements directly with renewable energy producers (PPAs), and through further work on network energy efficiency. Deployment of new, much more energy efficient technologies such as fibre and 5G will also contribute here. Average electricity consumption of fibre is around 80% lower compared to copper.
• Preparing for Scope 3 emissions reduction (emissions by suppliers, customers and employees generated in relation to Orange Polska activity), including the implementation of eco-design.
• Optimising other resources consumed by Orange Polska.

Priority 2: Value that we can create for our customers and all stakeholders thanks to our climate action.

• Developing and selling commercial services supporting our B2C and B2B customers’ green challenges (and in particular solutions allowing them to reduce emissions or resource consumption).
• Dedicated green offers and communication to customers (in particular regarding the climate footprint of Orange Polska services and the possibility of reducing or neutralising that footprint), as well as end-to-end management of green concerns in the experience of Orange Polska customers.
• Circular economy in the operations of Orange Polska:
  • Collecting, buying back, recycling, repairing mobile phones;
  • Refurbishing CPEs (modems, set-top boxes);
  • Using refurbished equipment in Orange Polska’s network.

Priority 3: Impact on the green, digital transformation of the Polish economy that we can have as the green leader of Polish business

• Internal communication and education to engage our people.
• External communication and building Orange Polska’s image as ‘the green leader’.
• Market and regulatory relations.
• Financial and extra-financial reporting.
• Consistently including climate and environmental angles in our decision-making.