New executive team for Orange Belgium, benefiting customer experience and fixed-mobile convergence

At the behest of Michaël Trabbia, CEO of Orange Belgium, the Board of Directors has approved the company’s new Executive Committee. The new structure is designed to support company strategy, in which customer experience is the key priority.

In addition to its existing mobile offering already known, Orange Belgium aims to continue expanding its fixed-line TV and Internet offering in order to provide Belgian homes with high-quality and attractive convergent fixed-mobile offerings, with all the benefits that Orange Group innovation brings.

As of 1st October 2016:

• Alain Ovyn, the current Chief Customer Service Officer, has been appointed Chief Transformation & Digital Officer. He will henceforth be responsible for digital transformation, an essential aspect of streamlining the customer experience and making the business more agile and efficient. He will also be responsible for operational performance and IT.

• Stéphane Janssens has been appointed Chief Customer Experience Officer and will be responsible for the end-to-end customer experience, in liaison with all divisional heads. He will also be ultimately responsible for customer service. Currently Purchasing Director, Stéphane has fulfilled a range of management functions in his 17 years with Orange Belgium, much of which has been customer-relations focused.

• Werner De Laet, current CEO of Orange Luxembourg, has also been appointed Chief Wholesale & Innovation Officer. In addition to his executive responsibilities for Orange Luxembourg, Werner De Laet will be responsible for managing Orange Belgium’s wholesale operations as well as its innovation arm, reporting directly to the Orange Group.

As of 1st December 2016:

• Arnaud Castille has been appointed Chief Finance Officer. He is to replace Ludovic Pech who will become the Orange Group's Chief Financial Officer for the Middle East and Africa, responsible for 116 million customers and with a turnover of €6.4 billion. As the Orange Group’s Head of Mergers & Acquisitions since 2013, Arnaud Castille has a solid financial background and an excellent knowledge of the telecoms industry, acquired through a range of key roles in the industry, including six years as CFO for Maroc Télécom.

Commenting on these appointments, Michaël Trabbia, CEO of Orange Belgium, said: "I'm very pleased with this restructuring exercise, which translates company strategy into action and brings together a solid, experienced executive team, made up of exceptionally talented and motivated men and women.” On the issue of Arnaud Castille’s appointment as Ludovic Pech’s successor, he added: “Ludovic has been instrumental in getting our business back on track over the last three years. He played a key role in improving our profit margins, reducing our debts and steering us back towards growth. He also renewed our shareholders’ faith in us. I wish him all the very best in his new role. I'm now very happy to welcome Arnaud Castille as our new CFO. His experience and understanding of the telecoms market will prove vital assets to Orange Belgium.”

Further to these appointments, Jan Steyaert, President of Orange Belgium’s Board of Directors, stated: “On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to warmly thank Ludovic for his hard work as CFO and his tremendous contribution in helping steer our business back into the black. The new structure intends to continue improving the customer experience and will enable Orange Belgium to pursue the development of its convergent fixed and mobile activities on the business and retail markets.“