(Redirected from
Orange (company))
- See also Orange (disambiguation) for other meanings of the word.
Orange SA is a major mobile phone operator. It owns networks in many parts of the world, including France, the Benelux, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, the Dominican Republic, Israel, Slovakia (see Orange Slovensko) and Romania (see Orange Romania). Most operations in Orange SA are also branded Orange, but not all - the most significant being Mobistar in Belgium.
To complicate matters further there are also Orange branded operations in Australia, India (Mumbai only) and Israel, but these sub-licence the brand from Orange SA, with the underlying operator being owned by another company (usually Hutchison Telecom ).
The company was formed by France Télécom in 2001 after acquiring Orange UK 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 UK was previously majority owned by Hutchison Whampoa and was a successor to their failed point to point mobile telephone system known as Rabbit
Orange belongs to the Freemove cell phone alliance. Orange Australia uses CDMA (Qualcomm's cdmaONE, aka IS-95) cell phone technology, while the rest of the Orange companies use GSM.
Orange have come in for a lot of criticism recently for their poor customer service, despite a large advertising campaign featuring Elton John and Stephen Fry
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