Orange ramps up African CDN strategy with Synamedia deal
September 11th 2025
French operator group Orange has partnered with OTT video specialist Synamedia to strengthen its appeal to Africa’s content providers.
Orange already claims to operate one of the largest content delivery networks (CDNs) in the Middle East and Africa, where the telco has a presence in no fewer than 18 markets.
The new partnership combines that footprint with UK-based Synamedia’s Quortex Switch multi-CDN platform. It’s a software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution that – as the name suggests – enables content providers to route viewers to the most appropriate CDN, mid-stream, without interruption.
It is also designed to optimise costs by letting customers choose the most efficient routes and reduce instances of unused CDN resources, and improve reliability by automatically detecting and responding to issues that may affect streaming stability.
“This is our first partnership with a telecom-grade CDN provider, and it breaks new ground by extending the reach of reliable, scalable CDNs to emerging markets thanks to Orange’s CDN proof of performance in the Middle East and Africa,” said Ed Allfrey, general manager of video network, Synamedia. “Orange has demonstrated the importance of its services’ low latency, compliance and privacy and now it has another string to its bow with seamless CDN switching.”
As of 2025, there were more than 560 streaming services operating across Africa, according to entertainment-focused research firm Fabric. Netflix is the largest in terms of market penetration, offering services in all 60 countries, followed by Amazon Prime Video. The biggest homegrown player is South Africa-based Showmax, which is present in 44 markets.
With all these players vying for viewers, it is little wonder that Orange reckons Africa’s streaming market is on course to grow by 50% by 2030. The level of competition also underscores the importance of using CDNs and various related solutions to provide the best level of service to end users.
“This alliance showcases how any CDN customer can now easily benefit from Orange’s strengths in CDN, particularly across Middle East and Africa, by taking advantage of this partnership to create an eco-system with Synamedia’s Multi-CDN management system,” said Cédric Hardouin, VP of CDN and edge at Orange Wholesale. “Orange’s CDN stands out for its ability to extend content providers’ reach while ensuring optimal quality of service. It offers a powerful way to scale global content delivery, backed by a trusted European partner.”
Meanwhile, this partnership also highlights the growing importance of the Middle East and Africa (MEA) to Orange Group’s general wellbeing. So far this year, the region has more than offset lacklustre revenue and earnings performance at Orange’s other businesses, including wholesale.
In its most recent quarter, revenue in MEA was up 12.8% year-on-year, whereas in France it declined 2.2%, while the rest of Europe was flat. EBITDAaL in MEA was also up 12.8%, compared to modest increases of 0.9% and 2.2% in France and Europe respectively.
This Synamedia partnership, together with other developments this year – like the deal Orange struck with Eutelsat in March for satellite connectivity services – look set to further increase the telco’s reliance on the region.
Back