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Revision as of 15:23, 19 September 2006

Orange SA is a major mobile phone operator and an internet service provider that is a subsidiary of France Télécom. Orange also belongs to the FreeMove mobile phone alliance.

It operates as a mobile phone operator in many parts of the world, including France, Belgium, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom (see Orange UK), Switzerland, Poland (see Orange Polska), the Dominican Republic, Slovakia (see Orange Slovensko), Romania (see Orange Romania), Moldova (under the brand Voxtel ), Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Botswana, Madagascar, Réunion and on Martinique, French Guiana, St Kitts in the Caribbean and Spain.
It also franchises the Orange Brand in Israel and has franchised it in Australia, India and Hong Kong in the past. It had a joint venture with Charoen Pokphand in Thailand until 2005.

Altogether, Orange Mobile in June 2006 has 57 million users

History

Orange (mobile phone operator)

Microtel Communications Ltd was formed in April 1990 as a consortium comprising Pactel Corporation, British Aerospace, BOC and Hutchison Whampoa (British Aerospace soon acquired full control of the company). In 1991 Microtel was awarded a license to develop a mobile network in the UK and in July 1991 was acquired from BAe by Hutchison Telecommunications (UK) Ltd. BAe was paid in Hutchison Telecommunications (UK) Ltd. shares, giving the company a 30% share. Microtel was renamed Orange Personal Communications Services Ltd. in 1994. The orange brand was created by Wolff Olins, and advertising agency WCRS. The Orange network was launched on 28 April 1994.

Orange plc was formed in 1995 as a holding company for the Orange group. The present company was formed by France Télécom in 2001 after acquiring Orange plc (which had been acquired by Mannesmann AG, itself purchased by Vodafone shortly after, leading Vodafone to divest Orange) and merging its existing mobile operations into the company. The company was initially 100% owned by France Télécom (although there were and remain minority invstors in some of the national operating companies). In 2001 15% was sold in an IPO, but in 2003 this was bought back in.

Orange (ISP)

Orange as an ISP operates in France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Spain, Algeria, Morocco, Senegal, Mauritius, Madagascar, Lebanon & Jordan. It is currently the largest ISP in Europe (counting the subscribers of Telekomunikacja Polska) with over ten million subscribers, largely concentrated in France, the UK, Spain, the Netherlands and Poland and was originally known as Wanadoo.

The origin of the name Wanadoo is subject to some controversy, as some maintain it came about in the late 1990s when many internet companies competed to choose "Yahoo" sounding names. However it might be that the name Wanadoo first appeared in an internal project at France Télécom, much in line with a number of other such projects such as Intranoo, Tatoo, Netatoo and @noo.

Wanadoo was floated on the stock market on 18 July 2000. In 2000, Wanadoo also took over the major British ISP Freeserve, which had previously been part of the Dixons Group (now DSG International plc). Following the buy-out, Freeserve maintained its own branding for a while before finally changing to the Wanadoo name on 28 April 2004.

However, the name Wanadoo changed to Orange on 1 June 2006 to simplify branding by common parent company, France Télécom. This merging of companies has created a single brand offering mobile telecommunications and internet services.

Recent changes

In June 2005, France Télécom announced that its ISP Wanadoo and business service Equant will both be renamed Orange in 2006 to harmonize branding. In July 2005, France Télécom announced its intention to acquire 80% of the Spanish mobile phone operator Amena, a deal that was completed in November 2005. Amena will also rebrand to Orange with Wanadoo in Spain and Uni2, a fixed line provider, to complete a "triple play".

Re-naming from Orange

Because the brand was origially owned from Hutchison, many of Hutchison's Asian and Oceanic subsidiaries continued using the Orange brand until recently.

On the 1 February 2006, Hutchison Telecom announced its australian affiliate would withdraw the Orange brand name. Its CDMA network was shut down on August 9, 2006, after the vast majority of its customers had already migrated to the 3 network (also owned by Hutchison).

The Orange brand name has also now been removed from India. Orange Mumbai has now been rebranded to Hutch. The website simply states that "Orange is now Hutch in Mumbai" before redirecting to the Hutch website.

The Orange network in Thailand, has been rebranded to True Move in 2006, after Orange SA pulled out from Thailand.

Operations within the Orange Group

Most operations in Orange SA are also branded Orange, but not all - the exceptions being Mobistar in Belgium, One in Austria, Voxtel in Moldova and Mobinil in Egypt.

To complicate matters further there is an Orange branded operation in Israel, but this sub-licence the brand from Orange SA, with the underlying operator being owned by another company (usually Hutchison Telecom, the brand's original owner).

See also

• 3 (telecommunications) new brands set-up by Hutchison Whampoa after Orange.

References

1. http://www.voxtel.md
2. http://www.orange.com/english/media/3653.asp

External links

• www.orange.com - Main Orange Group's site

• Orange networks:
  • Orange UK
  • Orange Dominicana (Dominican Republic)
  • Orange France
  • Orange Netherlands
  • Orange Spain
  • Orange Israel (franchised brand)
  • Orange Poland (franchised brand)
  • Orange Romania
  • Orange Slovakia
  • Orange Switzerland
  • Orange Botswana
  • Orange Cameroon
  • Orange Caribbean
  • Orange Ivory Coast
  • Orange Madagascar
  • Orange Reunion

• Orange-controlled or joint-controlled interests (non-Orange branded mobile operators)
  • One (Austria)
  • Mobistar-Orange Group (Belgium)
  • Mobinil (Egypt)
  • Voxtel (Moldova)
  • Optimus (Portugal)

• Other Orange websites
  • The Orange Studio Birmingham UK
  • Orange Partner - Orange Group's developer/partner programme, enabling businesses worldwide to commercialise their applications, content or solutions on the Orange network.

• Companies of France
• Telecommunications companies
• Mobile phone companies
• Orange
• Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange
• Internet service providers of the United Kingdom