Totem, let's go!After two years of work, Orange commercially launched this new subsidiary on Tuesday supposed to help it find colors on the stock market, at the cost of a real change of model for the operator.Because Totem is a ... "Tower Co", a mobile phone pylons company.Announced at the end of 2019 by Stéphane Richard, this separate company (but 100 % owned by Orange) had started to take shape in February this year, when Orange had placed the 26,000 mobile sites (the locations where the 4G and 5g antennas are located) that he owned so far in France and Spain, his two most "large" countries.

The novelty is that from now on, the other operators will be able to come to "graft" on these mobile sites, in exchange for rent paid to Orange for fifteen to twenty-five years.Admittedly, the pooling of infrastructure between several operators already existed in telecoms, but especially in the countryside, where to deploy its own antennas is less profitable and more expensive.

Mais cette fois-ci, Orange va même ouvrir à la concurrence son réseau urbain, jalousement gardé jusqu'à présent. Par exemple, 3.000 « toits-terrasses » très prisés - comme celui de la rue de Bassano, dans le 16^e arrondissement parisien - vont être ouverts à la location. Dans ce modèle, Orange devient lui-même locataire et versera un loyer à Totem.

40,000 laps in Europe

"These are very precious strategic sites," says Nicolas Roy, the director general of this new subsidiary of 150 people.Totem is precisely to create value with this park.30 % of the sites already accommodate at least one operator (in addition to orange), which allows Totem to display a turnover of 500 million euros and an EBITDA of 300 million.The goal is to go up to 50 % within five years.

By 2029, 3,000 newly built sites will be added to the 26,000 existing.Totem will also be able to accommodate orange towers in other European countries where it is present, such as Poland, Slovakia, or Romania.Knowing that in total, Orange holds 40,000 laps on the old continent.

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Orange was one of the last European operators not to have launched its "Tower Co" yet.Deutsche Telekom had placed its 32,800 rpm in Deutsche Funkturm… in 2002. In Italy, Tim and Vodafone pooled their 22,000 laps in Inwit in 2020 then sold 30 % of the whole in the French Fund Ardian.Vodafone had created Vantage Towers (82,000 laps in 10 countries) last year.The British giant even raised 2.3 billion euros by using the new structure on the stock market in February, the largest IPO of the start of the year in Europe.

"Bring out" the value of the towers

This is the interest of "Tower Co" for operators: placing the tricks in a separate company allows you to better highlight their value.These infrastructures, which underlie all our digital uses, are particularly appreciated by the markets.They offer stable and long -term income.

To find thanks to the eyes of investors, operators victims of market disenchantments therefore no longer hesitate to place their tricks in "Tower Co" and then sell all or part of the structure to investors.In France, Altice sold this year the 10,500 hives of Hivory, its subsidiary co -designed with KKR since 2018, in the Spanish Cellnex, the European pylons champion, for 5.2 billion euros.This makes it possible to raise funds - even if then to pay the "Tower Co" for the services they render.

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Orange will do the same?"We want to remain a majority shareholder, or at least have co-control at 50-50," says Nicolas Roy, therefore leaving the door open.As for a possible stock market rating, this "is not on the agenda," says the former technical director of Orange France networks.On the other hand, Totem intends to do consolidation and buy tricks to bring out a counterweight to Cellnex.Spanish is now the number one in Europe, with 75,000 laps in 12 countries… including 27,000 in France.