Orange may be launching its service in Canada, The Globe and Mail is reporting. According to the media outlet, representatives from Orange Horizons, a subsidiary of the French telecoms group, have held “exploratory talks” with Canada’s telecoms regulator and the country’s trade commissioner service about wireless opportunities. The report goes on suggesting that the carrier isn’t — at least initially — interested into making its own infrastructure from the scratch. Rather, it would launch as an MVNO, relying on some existing network, instead.
This, however, is still in the “rumors stage.” Orange’s spokesperson played down the company’s potential interest in Canada, saying that the company’s overall M&A strategy is focused on “consolidation and the development of areas of strategic interest, particularly in Africa.” “This prudent and selective strategy precludes any major investments,” he added.
The remit of Orange Horizons does, however, include the possible launch of MVNOs. Expansion into other countries nonetheless has been low key so far.
So, is Orange coming to Canada? Perhaps. The country’s authorities have been calling for increased competition in the wireless market to no avail. And now that Verizon has gave up plans to expend to north, perhaps the government can get new market entrants from the other side of the pond. We’ll see…