Cyclone Chido, which struck Mayotte at the end of 2024, damaged telecom infrastructure and intensified a dispute between regional operator Mayotte THD and Orange over fiber optic rollout. This overseas department of 329,000 residents, the last in France without such networks, sees both firms laying competing cables despite low population density. The operators plan to connect thousands of households by 2026 and beyond.
At the end of 2024, Cyclone Chido severely damaged telecommunications infrastructure in Mayotte, an isolated overseas department in the Indian Ocean. The storm accelerated an ongoing dispute between Mayotte THD, the regional operator selected by the department to equip the archipelago with fixed internet, and Orange, the national telecom giant. For a year, the two entities have competed to deploy their own fiber optic networks, sometimes in the same locations, in a territory where population density makes such duplication economically questionable.
On December 3, in the Kawéni industrial zone of Mamoudzou, Mayotte's capital, an excavator was digging a trench to install Mayotte THD's equipment. The operator plans to connect 1,900 households, mainly in the capital, by late January 2026. Its director general, Emmanuel André, aims to cover 63,000 households by 2030.
Nearby, an Orange advertisement declares in Mahorais: “Mayotte la fibre ija” (“the fiber is here”). In the town of Koungou, north of Grande-Terre, Sébastien Tellerain, Orange Mayotte's networks director, celebrated connecting his first customers. André Martin, the local Orange branch's director general, promises 4,000 connectable households by the end of 2025, and 20,000 more by the end of 2026.
This rivalry highlights Mayotte's status as France's last department without fiber optics, underscoring challenges in extending digital technologies to overseas territories. Local authorities back Mayotte THD to promote tailored development, while Orange relies on its national expertise to speed up rollout.