Orange plc was launched on the UK market in April 1994 by Hutchison Whampoa group of Hong Kong, aiming to become the benchmark for mobile communications. This is the fourth largest operator in that market already saturated. To achieve its objective, Orange should stand out dramatically.
The three players already on the market at that time practiced a complex and higher pricing, to counter Orange forged a strong identity and innovate by offering simple packages, cheaper and with additional services.
In 1996, during the IPO, the major shareholders are Hutchison Whampoa (48% stake) and British Aerospace (22% of capital).
In July 1997, Orange passes the million mark of customers. The company also has the lowest turnover rates, shows better margins than its competitors and achieves excellent levels of customer satisfaction.
Orange was launched in Hong Kong in September 1998 and moved from fourth to first place in the market in six months.
In 1999, Orange gained a foothold in international markets, with equity in Austria, Belgium and Switzerland and a licensing brand in Hong Kong, Australia, Israel and India to different operators. In Israel, Orange wins over 400,000 customers during the first year, and is recognized as one of the biggest brands in the country.
In late 1999, the German Mannesmann (of) AG announced the acquisition of Orange plc for a price equivalent to € 7,900 per customer. In comparison, Deutsche Telekom paid € 3,800 per customer when it bought rival One-2-One. Shortly after Vodafone bought Mannesmann. This operation was conditioned by the European Commission to the resale of Orange plc.
In August 2000, France Telecom bought Orange plc from Vodafone so for a total cost estimated at 39.7 billion euros. It must itself be separated from the Belgian subsidiary of Orange (fully sold to KPN), since it already has the Mobistar network.
The mobile phone business Orange plc are then merged with the majority of the mobile activities of France Telecom, Orange Group to establish the new SA. On February 13, 2001, Orange SA is introduced on Euronext Paris with a special price per unit fixed at 10 € with a secondary listing in London and in May 2001, Orange SA is listed on the CAC 40, the ranking of the top 40 French firms in terms of market capitalization.
The trademarks of France Telecom Mobile (Itinéris, OLA, Mobicarte) are replaced by the Orange brand (mobicarte "becomes the name of one of the offers of Orange, and two others disappear) in June 2001.
In 2003, Orange made its 2000 employees of the United Kingdom phone trainers who help the customers to fully exploit the possibilities of their Orange phone.
In 2004, Orange withdraws from Denmark: operator Orange A / S (formerly Mobilix created in 1997) was sold to the Finnish-Swedish operator TeliaSonera for $ 600 million paid in cash.
In 2005, Orange France becomes the first operator to use a national network for mobile broadband, bringing together the EDGE covers 95% of the population, 3G covers 60% of the population, and GPRS (low bandwidth Internet ) which covers 98% of the population.
In France and the United Kingdom since 1 June 2006 and for purposes of commercial convergence, France Telecom uses the Orange brand for its Internet services business, formerly marketed under the brand name Wanadoo (MaLigneTV well as in France). France Telecom does not stop there: he wants to branding by subsidiaries of the Group (excluding fixed telephony) under the Orange brand. This merging of trademark services for enterprises becomes Orange Business Services for multinationals.
Orange UMTS licenses awarded in the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Spain, France, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Jordan.
Since the company began renaming its phone services worldwide under the brand name Orange.
In November 2008, the group launched its five channels Orange Cinema Series. Orange will also FFF exclusive rights to broadcast the games on Saturday night in League 1. SFR (a subsidiary of Canal +) and then Orange Free accuse tying as the channels of Orange are available only if you subscribe to the operator. A first ruling of the Commercial Court, February 23, 2009 [3], in fact considers the offer as illegal but, May 14, 2009 [4], a second trial on appeal considers that the offer is not Orange Sport the tying and Orange took over the chain the next day.
In 2010 Orange exchange director. Didier Lombard gives way to Stéphane Richard at the head of the group. An internal reorganization is also taking place including the entrance to the former minister of culture Christine Albanel, who is then responsible for group communication.
Orange is the name and unique brand of France Telecom in 2012, but the France Telecom Group expects this to the end of the economic crisis
