Orange's home broadband division could finally return to growth during Q4 2011 after customer attrition reduced to a trickle during Q3.

The broadband provider near-stabilised its subscriber base between July and September, with just 3,000 customers switching to a rival operator.

Orange currently has 713,000 home broadband customers, but based upon the reversal in fortunes for the firm, this number could well increase between October and December.

Bruno Duarte, Head of Orange Home Broadband, explained that subscriber numbers rose during September – the first month of growth since November 2007.

He conceded that customers had been treated poorly by the broadband provider in the past, but stressed that this is very much a different regime.

"Our objective is to get to a point where we are no longer ashamed of what we are doing to our customers – or, to put it positively, where we are proud of what we are doing to our customers," Mr Duarte told the Guardian.

Orange's UK arm is now under the ownership of telecoms giant Everything Everywhere, having merged with the T-Mobile's British operation.