What’s Driving Orange’s Capex?

French multinational telecom operator Orange’s (ORAN) capex rose 10.9% YoY (year-over-year) in the third quarter to ~$2.0 billion, bringing its capex in the first nine months of 2018 to ~$6.0 billion. Orange’s capex is on the rise because the company is investing in upgrading its network to maintain a competitive position. In addition to upgrading its own networks, Orange has teamed up with Google (GOOGL) to develop a new submarine cable network, the Dunant transatlantic submarine cable project, connecting the United States and France.