Today Didier Lombard, France Telecom's Chairman and CEO, presented the Group's programme for 2006 - 2008 to employees, the financial community and the press. NExT (New Experience in Telecom services) will give customers access to a universe of services that are both high value and simple. The programme will also enable the Group to pursue its transformation as an integrated operator, supported by its renewed model for profitable growth. In 2006, France Telecom will roll out a single portal to provide its clients a simpler interface and a "unified customer experience" when accessing the Group's services. This portal, adapted to each client, can be accessed using a variety of terminals, not only computers. The single portal will act as a simple and practical interface with all the services of the France Telecom Group. As part of its transformation plan, France Telecom announced a 25 percent increase in employee training efforts and a reinforced staff incentive programme. France Telecom is one of the world's leading telecommunications carriers, with more than 126 million customers on the five continents (220 countries and territories) at March 31, 2005 and consolidated revenues of 46.16 billion euros for 2004 (under IFRS GAAP).
The industrial sector is on the eve of a wireless transformation, driven by an urgent demand for greater network capacity, reliability, and deterministic performance. Historically, manufacturers and mission-critical operations have relied on wired networks — favoring their predictability — because spectrum congestion in legacy 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands limited confidence in wireless for operational technology (OT) environments. However, with the introduction and rapid adoption of the 6GHz spectrum, compounded by significant advances in Wi-Fi standards, industrial facilities are now poised to embrace wireless LANs as the backbone for automation and digital innovation. Industrial WLAN Market Development Recent research from ABI Research forecasts that over 70 percent of industrial-grade wireless LAN access points (WLAN APs) shipped in 2030 will support the 6GHz band. This is a leap from 2 percent in 2023, highlighting a rapid and profound technological shift. The market for ruggedized indust...