Orange and Morrison Plan €3B French Data-Centre Platform for AI Demand

Europe’s telecom operators already own fibre networks, connected sites and valuable access to power. Orange now plans to turn those assets into a much larger platform for AI-era data-centre demand.

What happened

Orange and infrastructure investor Morrison plan to establish a 50-50 French data-centre joint venture.

The platform would begin with five Orange facilities and a €3 billion investment programme, targeting approximately 400 megawatts of capacity. The companies are positioning the venture to meet rising demand from AI and cloud customers in France.

The transaction combines Orange’s physical infrastructure and network footprint with Morrison’s experience financing and operating large infrastructure assets.

Why it matters

Building a data centre is no longer only a real-estate problem. Operators need reliable electricity, grid connections, fibre, cooling and substantial long-term capital.

Telecom companies may have an advantage because many already control connected sites and network infrastructure. Converting or expanding those assets could shorten the path to new capacity compared with developing every campus from scratch.

For European customers, domestic capacity also matters for data control and resilience. A French platform could give companies and public institutions more options to run workloads locally rather than relying entirely on US hyperscalers.

The bigger picture

AI infrastructure is pushing data centres toward the economics of utilities: large upfront investment, constrained power access and long-duration customer commitments.

The Orange–Morrison plan also shows how incumbent telecom assets can be repurposed for a new computing cycle. The important question is how quickly the venture can secure power and customers for its planned 400 megawatts, rather than simply announcing capacity targets.