Eutelsat Named Orange Executive as CEO

Eutelsat named Orange executive Jean-Francois Fallacher as its new CEO. He will assume the position from 1 June and replace the current chief, Eva Berneke.

The satellite provider explained that Fallacher’s appointment comes as a natural change that fully aligns Eutelsat with the telecom ecosystem. Fallacher’s LinkedIn profile shows his career at Orange dates to 2011. He is currently EVP and CEO of Orange France, after previously leading the operator’s units in Spain, Romania, and Poland.

Berneke has led the company since 2022. She oversaw a deal to buy OneWeb, which gave it a network of low Earth orbit satellites to compete against Starlink across Europe. Eutelsat faces significant debt maturities of almost €2.4 billion over the next four years.

Orange named Jerome Henique, current EVP and CEO of the operator’s Middle East and Africa division, to replace Fallacher as boss of its France division. Yasser Shaker, the current CEO of Orange Egypt, will in turn replace Henique in the top job in the Middle East and Africa.