Orange Jordan: Simplify the Lives of Customers

Orange Jordan is a Jordanian public mobile telephone network operator, and is the operator of the mobile communications license granted to Jordan Telecom. The company aims to build a mobile communications network to serve Jordan, and has launched full public services across the Kingdom in September 2000. Recently, ZTE Technologies interviewed Olivier Wicquart, CTO of Orange Jordan. He shared with us Orange Jordan’s presence, milestones, networking strategies, SDM project and IMS solution. He also talked about his expectations for ZTE and visions about global telecom trends.

Could you brief us on Orange’s presence in Jordan?

Orange Jordan is the sole integrated telecom operator in the Kingdom, providing fixed line, mobile and internet services to B2C and B2B customers, with the most comprehensive portfolio of offers and solutions designed to simplify the lives of our customers.
Orange is also a hub for wholesale activities in the Middle East, thanks to our unmatched international connections and agreements with 60 regional and international operators. Orange has a strong historical presence in the cities beyond the capital Amman. In both the fixed line and mobile domains, Orange is offering Jordanians the telecom services they need and deserve.

What are the major milestones that have marked Orange Jordan’s development?

Historically, Jordan Telecom (now Orange Jordan) was responsible for developing telecom infrastructure for Jordan, which is used for fixed line and data communications today.
Since 2006, the commercial brand has been Orange that includes the integrated suite of fixed and mobile services provided by the operator.
We launched 2G services in 2000 and 3G in 2010. Orange was the first operator to launch 4G in Jordan as part of a discovery phase in October 2014, which also saw us introducing fiber connectivity for B2C customers. We commercially launched 4G in May 2015, delivering nationwide coverage within several months.

Jordan’s telecom market has transitioned from traditional voice-oriented to current data-oriented. How did Orange respond to this transformation?

Jordanians have a strong appetite for data consumption, such as social media, browsing the internet, and enjoying videos. Within Orange Group, Orange Jordan has the highest average data consumption per user.
At the same time, Jordanians make plenty of voice calls. To meet those needs and develop the telecom services in the Kingdom, Orange Jordan has adapted both its offers and networks.
In 2013, we launched bundle offers for mobile voice and data in the mass market, which we called Yalla Shabab and Ghair Shekl. In 2015, we proposed some convergent offers, including mobile and fixed broadband services, as part of an all-inclusive family package called Bait El Aileh, offering families a complete solution for their telecom and infotainment needs.
On the mobile network side, we implemented in 2015 a full modernization of our network, which improved coverage and increased the overall capacity of the network. As a result, Orange Jordan is now offering Jordanians the best mobile network in the Kingdom.
On the fixed network side, we have increased capacity, coverage and the speed that we offer to our customers: within the span of 18 months, our ADSL and Fiber customers went from mainly 1 Mbps offers to 8 Mbps or above.
We also enriched our portfolio of B2B offers to support companies in their own business transformation, providing tailor-made solutions based on our network and infrastructure capacities, like a new data center that opened at the end of 2013.

Could you tell us Orange’s overall networking strategy in Jordan?

Networks are a cornerstone of our strategy—Essentials 2020: we want to offer customers the best experience through enriched connectivity. This means to provide solutions that will simplify the daily life and work of our customers and fellow citizens, enabling them to always remain connected to what is essential to them.
This vision is driving our strategy on network: we develop our networks where people and companies need modern and efficient telecom services. Orange is offering the widest range of services and devices in Jordan: by combining fixed and mobile services, and adding solutions like dongles, MiFi, PiCo and WiFi repeaters, we are able to meet all customer needs, whether in mobility for professional or personal usages, or at home where all the family members can enjoy services thanks to high-speed fixed broadband.

What makes Orange Jordan stand out from its competitors?

We have strong assets: our networks and offers, our teams in shops and call centers, our field sales and our technicians. To offer an unmatched customer experience, we want to reach a new level in the availability of our networks and services.
In parallel, we also want to listen and respond more and more efficiently to our customers, especially B2B customers, to support them in their own business development. This fully matches with His Majesty King Abdullah II to develop the ICT sector in Jordan and international investment.
On the technical side, we are modernizing our IT systems and we are building “customer centric organization” with teams dedicated to each customer’s segment.

What is the significance of the successful cutover of SDM project? How will this affect your network evolution?

SDM is a technical requirement for launching 4G. This project has been implemented smoothly on time and without any impact on quality of service and customer experience.
Orange Jordan has mobilized its teams to implement successfully this project and ZTE did the same. It was thanks to the great teamwork between the two companies that we achieved this milestone.
Orange could rely on the quality of ZTE products and on the professionalism and efforts of its teams. ZTE teams have perfectly managed the project and met the requirements outlined by Orange.

What are your main concerns about IMS, IN and VAS solutions? How do you avoid such concerns?

IMS is the next step in our networks transformation. This evolution is of course driven by the obsolescence of our switches, but we also see some business opportunities as we will be able to provide new services. This will be a complete transformation of our fixed network at the core level, at the RLU and DSLAM level and also with regards to CPEs.
For many years, we have been developing value-added services with the support of Orange Group and our Technocenter based in Amman, which also develops solutions geared toward the MENA region. This enables us to bring innovative products and services to the market.
One of the most successful services we brought is a smartphone application called “My Orange,” giving our customers essential information such as locations of Orange shops, their Orange account balance, and promotions and special offers.

How would you evaluate ZTE’s team and solutions? What are your expectations for
ZTE in the future?

ZTE has a wide range of telecom solutions and was selected for SDM after a tendering process involving major suppliers. ZTE was chosen because of the competitiveness of its offer, the high efficiency of its products and its ability to implement this project in due time without impacting customer experience.
As far as the future is concerned, I am expecting ZTE to understand our pain points and our strategy, to be able to provide relevant solutions and customized offers, thus helping Orange Jordan to successfully implement its strategy.

Could you share your vision about global telecom trends, such as internet of things (IOT), big data and 5G?

Customers are using more and more data, and we will continuously adapt our networks to support this major trend.
IOT is already part of the present, and we provide and operate M2M solutions in Jordan. This will grow in the future and our network architecture is ready to support this growth.
We will reach new heights in big data and customer experience management in 2016, thanks to the projects developed by Orange Group worldwide. Orange Jordan’s customers permanently benefit from Orange Group’s capacity to anticipate those trends and develop solutions to meet them.

What are your goals in 2016?

We want to deliver an unmatched customer experience. This is our ultimate goal in 2016 and beyond, and this drives our daily actions and ambitions.
Currently, our focal points include content-on-demand, security, cloud services and the delivery of convergent offers that cater to the widest spectrum of consumer segments in Jordan.