Trust the Future: the innovations brought by Orange Romania’s new strategy

How the company plans to build the digital infrastructure of the future

Trust the Future strategy: technologies extending connectivity from metro to direct satellite communications and the operator’s transition to a digital infrastructure and services provider

• Innovation: investments of more than €200 million planned for 2026 will support the development of digital networks and infrastructure
• Orange Romania introduces 5G Standalone and expands its portfolio of technologies for next-generation applications
• The operator launches Wi-Fi 7 for residential customers, after the implementation of the technology in the business segment

Orange Romania has started, since the spring of this year, the local implementation of the Trust the Future global strategy, through which it strengthens its infrastructure and technological capabilities for the next generation of trusted digital networks and services. Its plans are supported by investments of more than €200 million in 2026. Orange thus strengthens its position in the digital services market, expanding the traditional telecom operator model towards an integrated portfolio of infrastructure, connectivity and value-added services.

Among the latest technologies launched this summer by Orange is the first Wi-Fi 7 equipment for residential customers offered by an operator. At the same time, the first large-scale tests of 5G Standalone technology were carried out, at some of the largest concerts in Romania, to see its applicability in the business environment and in applications with high traffic needs.

“For years, the competition in the telecom industry has been around the speed, coverage and performance of the networks. These criteria will remain important, of course, but they will no longer be sufficient to serve the complex requirements of customers. The next decade will belong to operators capable of building reliable digital infrastructure. In a world where artificial intelligence is increasing complexity and digital risks, trust is becoming the main criterion by which customers will choose their suppliers. Orange has already taken the necessary steps to evolve from a telecom operator into a provider of digital infrastructure and services. This is the strategy we are following in Romania and it is our response to the profound changes we are going through. We are investing in next-generation networks, cybersecurity services and technologies that extend connectivity from the metro to direct satellite communications. Innovation remains at the heart of all our actions”, said Julien Ducarroz, CEO of Orange Romania.

Innovation starts with infrastructure

The continuous development of communication infrastructure is an important pillar of progress. The company offers fixed network speeds of up to 2.1 Gbps for residential customers and 10 Gbps for the business segment, and the 5G/5G+ network is available in more than 120 cities, a map that is constantly expanding. The performance of the fixed network is the basis on which the new digital services launched by the company are built.

The Trust the Future strategy materializes through investments in the digital infrastructure on which a growing part of the Romanian economy operates. From digital payments and banking, to hospitals, airports, industry, government and AI-powered applications, they all depend on networks with high availability, low latency and increasingly advanced levels of security.

5G/5G+ enters a new stage

The development of 5G/5G+ is no longer just about faster speeds for users, but also about facilitating the growth of communities and boosting local economies. The company is expanding ultra-fast 5G+ services on the seaside, in the municipality of Constanta and in the Bucharest metro, where more than 45 stations are already covered, including tunnels. At the end of May, approximately 3.5 million active terminals in the Orange network were already compatible with 5G+ services, which allows a large number of customers to benefit from this technology.

That is why the operator has launched a test offer of the ultra-fast 5G+ service for 15 days. Regardless of whether a user is an Orange customer or not, the performance of the network can be tested free of charge. There is no need to change the operator or sign a contract, and activation is done through a new SIM in Orange stores or through eSIM through orange.ro.

5G Standalone moves from pilot projects to real applications

After the first functional deployment, in the Danube Delta, 5G Standalone was tested in extremely high traffic scenarios, demonstrating how 5G/5G+ can become the infrastructure on which essential public services operate. In the largest test, on the occasion of a concert with tens of thousands of participants, the following results were obtained:

· more than 33,300 users were connected simultaneously;

· total traffic exceeded 5.1 TB;

· the average download speed on 5G was 141 Mbps;

· Network Slicing technology has enabled critical services to operate independently.

Orange is currently the only operator in Romania that offers the capabilities of a 5G Standalone network, the technology considered the next stage in the evolution of 5G. Unlike the 5G architecture currently used, 5G Standalone allows, through Network Slicing technology, the creation of network “dedicated bands” for critical services. In practice, this means that applications such as emergency communications, payment terminals, surveillance systems or private industrial networks can maintain their performance regardless of the level of traffic generated by ordinary users.

Wi-Fi 7 also reaches Romanians’ homes: Orange extends the newest generation of wireless connectivity to residential customers

After introducing Wi-Fi 7 technology for business customers for the first time, Orange is now bringing it to the residential segment, by launching the Giga Wi-Fi service together with the new Giga Box Wi-Fi 7 equipment.

The launch comes in the context of a major shift in the way connectivity is used at home. A connected household can have dozens of active devices simultaneously – smartphones, laptops, 4K TVs, gaming consoles, surveillance cameras, sensors and smart home devices – and AI-based applications, video streaming, cloud gaming and video conferencing are constantly increasing the demands on network capacity.

The new Giga Box uses the Wi-Fi 7 standard, through Multi-Link Operation (MLO) technology, which allows the simultaneous use of multiple radio bands for the same connection. This brings significant improvements over previous generations. The equipment introduces an architecture based on three dedicated networks, on which devices can be distributed according to the technology they support, optimizing the performance of the entire network in the home. This makes connections more stable, latency is reduced, and performance remains constant even when numerous devices are connected and used at the same time.

In the tests carried out by Orange Romania, Giga Box reached speeds of up to over 2000 Mbps for download and over 900 Mbps for upload via Wi-Fi, using state-of-the-art smartphones and laptops equipped with Wi-Fi 7.

Secure digital infrastructure: cybersecurity services complement the Trust the Future strategy

As the economy rapidly digitizes and critical infrastructures become dependent on permanent connectivity, protecting these ecosystems becomes as important as the infrastructure that supports them. One of the most important projects developed in this direction is SCUT, the company specialized in cybersecurity launched last year by Orange Business together with Orange Cyberdefense, a European leader in the field.

Less than a year after its launch, SCUT already serves more than 100 companies, has investigated more than 7,000 security incidents and continuously monitors more than 2,400 pieces of equipment. The figures illustrate the growth of activity in the area of security services, amid a growing demand for 24/7 monitoring, early threat detection and rapid intervention in the event of cyber incidents, supported by AI.

Orange builds an integrated portfolio of digital services addressed to both large companies and SMEs. SCUT offers the MDR service – Managed Detection and Response – which provides real-time protection of all equipment in a company, regardless of size, with a centralized view of all systems.

From the expansion of 5G/5G+ and fiber optic networks to satellite communications, Wi-Fi 7 and cybersecurity services, the projects carried out by Orange outline the strategy: transforming the telecom operator into an integrated provider of digital services and infrastructure, capable of supporting the development of Romania’s digital economy in the next decade.

About Orange Romania

Orange Romania is part of the Orange Group, one of the largest global telecommunications operators, which connects hundreds of millions of customers around the world. With over 11 million customers locally and an annual turnover exceeding 1.5 billion euros, Orange Romania connects 1 in 2 Romanians and offers an extensive range of communication solutions for individual customers and companies, from basic connectivity services to complete mobile internet packages, fixed internet, TV and complex IT&C solutions through Orange Business. Since entering the local market, Orange has made investments of 4.7 billion euros in Romania.