Found in most French living rooms, the box is currently just a simple device for accessing the internet. In the future, it is set to become a genuine platform bringing together innovative services in the fields of cybersecurity, home automation, and energy management.
This scalability is currently hampered by integration constraints, as each box runs on a proprietary operating system (OS). Updating the firmware or adding any new features requires specific developments that must be repeated for each box model.
PrplOS will address this lack of scalability. This open source operating system is specifically designed for the telecommunications sector, particularly for customer premises equipment (CPE) installed at the end user’s premises, such as routers or WiFi repeaters. It is developed by the prpl Foundation, a non-profit organization that brings together equipment manufacturers, semiconductor suppliers, software integrators, and, of course, telecom operators, including Orange.
With prplOS, future boxes will be able to prioritize bandwidth for critical uses, such as a videoconferencing session while working from home.
“PrplOS is a standardized OS that frees users from the hardware layer of the box and its electronic components,” explains Dimitri Bricheteau, project manager for prpl gateways at Orange Innovation. “Agnostic to hardware platforms, this operating system defines low-level and high-level API standards to promote the development of an ecosystem of innovative services.”
In relative terms, prplOS can be compared to Android, the mobile OS that has enabled the proliferation of applications on our smartphones. However, it is not controlled by a single player. As a key operator of the prpl Foundation, alongside the American companies Verizon and AT&T, Orange is keeping a close eye on the prplOS R&D roadmap.
An ecosystem of innovative services
The adoption of prplOS will give rise to a vast ecosystem of innovative services that can be grouped into broad categories. With the concept of “Smart WiFi,” it will first optimize the operation of the box itself by optimizing bandwidth for critical uses, such as a videoconferencing session while teleworking, or reducing power consumption by automatically disabling WiFi capabilities when the home is unoccupied.
“In terms of filtering inappropriate content, the parental control tool will be centralized at the box level rather than deployed on each terminal,” says Xavier Roubaud, head of the “home services and protection” product line at Orange.
The next generation of boxes will contribute to the security of the home and its occupants thanks to WiFi Sensing. “Motion detection provides a first level of protection that is less intrusive than remote surveillance and encourages elderly people to remain in their own homes,” says Jorge Febra, technical leader for Orange Home Connectivity Innovation portfolio.
Combined with Matter, the home automation standard, prplOS will enable the box to become the single entry point for controlling lighting, roller shutters, and electrical outlets without multiplying hubs from manufacturers such as Philips Hue, Somfy, or Ikea. Using data collected by the box, an energy supplier such as EDF will be able to optimize electricity consumption and temporarily cut off certain connected devices, such as radiators.
The next generations of boxes will be prpl
PrplOS will be gradually rolled out in future generations of Orange Group boxes. The move began in 2025 in Jordan and continued in February 2026 in Morocco, with an initial VPN service developed with cybersecurity publisher Bitdefender. In the coming months, various European subsidiaries in Poland, Moldova, and Romania will also switch to prplOS. Finally, France, the group’s main market, will move into the world of service platformization (Telco-as-a-Platform) with the next generations of Livebox.
This text has been translated by an artificial intelligence.
