Orange SA

Orange SA is a major mobile phone operator and an internet service provider that is a subsidiary of France Télécom.

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, the Dominican Republic, Slovakia (see Orange Slovensko), Romania (see Orange Romania), Moldova (see 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.

It operates as an ISP in France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Spain, Algeria, Morocco, Senegal, Mauritius, Madagascar, Lebanon & Jordan.

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 Hutchinson Telecommunications (UK) Ltd. BAe was paid in Hutchinson 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 85% owned by France Télécom, but in 2003 the remaining 15% was purchased.

Orange (ISP)

Orange was origially known as Wanadoo, however 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.

Wanadoo changed to Orange on1 June 2006 to simplify branding by France Télécom, this merging of companies has created a single brand offering mobile telecommunications and internet services.

Number of users

April 2006: 147 million

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 has been 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".

On the 1 February 2006, Hutchison Telecom announced it would withdraw the Orange brand name from Australia. The Orange network is now known as 3 CDMA. On May 9, 2006, it was announced that the 3 CDMA network will be shut down on August 9, 2006, after more than half the 3 CDMA customer base has migrated to the 3 network.

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 Thai Orange network has been rebranded to True Move in 2006 after the pulling out of Orange SA from Thailand.

Operations within the Orange Group

Most operations in Orange SA are also branded Orange, but not all - the most significant exception being Mobistar in Belgium. The most recent conversion to the Orange brand to be announced was Idea in Poland, in September, 2005. Unlike competitor Vodafone, which usually introduces its brand name gradually through dual branding, Orange has generally totally rebranded operations from one day to the next, as was the case with Idea.

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).

Orange also belongs to the FreeMove mobile phone alliance.

External links

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

Orange networks:

Orange-controlled or joint-controlled interests (non-Orange branded mobile operators)

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

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