The Competition Authority ordered Orange on Wednesday, 21 October, to suspend the extension of its fibre optic network in Mayotte in areas where it is not yet deployed, an interim measure taken pending its decision on the merits.
The operator must also halt the sale of its wholesale offers outside areas already covered, provide a precise status report on its network and grant other operators access to its civil engineering infrastructure, according to the Authority.
The regulator considers that Orange's strategy may constitute an abuse of a dominant position and cause serious and immediate harm to the sector. In March 2025, Orange launched a network funded from its own resources in the five municipalities considered the densest and most profitable, with a target of 27,771 connection points by 2030.
This private deployment overlaps with the public-initiative network entrusted to Mayotte THD in January 2025 to cover the 17 municipalities. The Authority says this overlap has led to the freezing of State funding intended for the public network.
The five municipalities concerned would account for around 70% of the public network's expected revenue. Without this income, the other twelve municipalities, which together house around 42% of the archipelago's population and businesses, risk not being connected, according to the decision.
Orange has contested the measure and announced its intention to appeal, Mayotte Hebdo reports. The operator says its network already provides more than 15,000 connectable connection points in five municipalities.