Orange Draws the Ire of the Armed Forces with Its Plan to Sell Globecast
The prospect of the potential acquisition of audiovisual broadcast specialist Globecast by an investment fund is alarming the French Navy. The Navy operates a sensitive satellite transmission centre that has been located for years on the same site as the Orange subsidiary.
Orange's decision to put its subsidiary Globecast up for sale has put French defence on high alert. According to our information, the French Navy is concerned about the prospect of seeing this video stream transmission specialist fall under the control of a private investment fund. The subsidiary, headed by Philippe Bernard, has the distinction of owning a ground-based satellite telecommunications station — known as a "teleport" — located on the Sainte-Assise estate in Seine-et-Marne. This station sits near classified defence sites where the French Navy uses high-intensity antennas similar to those of Globecast, but for military purposes. The military "teleport" at Saint-Assise, called "CTM" (Centre de Transmission de la Marine), is used to establish communications — non-classified — with ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs).
Although the military's satellite equipment is not operated by Globecast, the risks of interception of military information are taken very seriously should the company fall into private hands. As revealed by L'Informé in an article on 2 February, the Orange subsidiary has attracted the interest of two investment funds: the French firm Verdoso and the German fund Dubag Group. The telecommunications company (220 employees in France) has consolidated revenues of €216 million. Its growing deficit, due to the decline of its legacy businesses such as satellite broadcasting, prompted Orange's CEO Christel Heydemann to divest Globecast.
Bercy's Doctrine on Teleports
The presence of a foreign player in the preliminary discussions around the sale is fuelling concerns, particularly if Globecast ultimately ends up with the Swiss company Eurovision Services, itself owned by the German firm Dubag.
Moreover, the Ministry of Defence's doctrine regarding "teleports" is quite strict: such equipment is considered sufficiently sensitive that it should not be placed within reach of foreign entities. Bercy has just applied this principle in the Eutelsat case. The French state intervened to prevent the French satellite operator from selling infrastructure to the Swedish fund EQT Infrastructure. Starlink's sole European competitor operates six teleports of its own, only one of which is located in France, near Rambouillet.