ORANGE LAUNCHES UK'S FIRST EDGE NETWORK

 EDGE complements the Orange 3G network, improving delivery of advanced mobile services in the UK

 Five 3G and EDGE-enabled  handsets available from Orange on launch

 EDGE-enabled BlackBerry 8700g and Business Everywhere laptop data card launch this quarter

London, 1st February, 2006: Orange today launched the UK's first live EDGE network, providing its customers with faster data speeds when using advanced mobile services such as email-on-the-move, the Internet, and music and video downloads.

Enhanced Data for GSM Evolution (EDGE) is an industry recognised technology that provides download and browsing speeds that are up to three-times faster than GPRS.  Orange tested the EDGE network throughout 2005 and now has 300 network sites enabled for EDGE across the UK. Orange intends to have over 1,500 sites enabled for EDGE by the end of the year.

The EDGE network complements Orange's existing 3G network by providing enhanced delivery of advanced mobile services and by extending Orange UK's coverage for high data speeds. The Orange EDGE radio network is based on technology designed and supplied by Nokia and is live on the Orange network today.

Bernard Ghillebaert, Executive Vice President of Orange UK, said: "Orange is consistently recognised as having both the largest integrated second and third generation mobile network for data, and for delivering the best quality of service. The addition of EDGE strengthens our ability to offer both businesses and consumers access to high-speed data services in the UK."

At launch, there are five 3G and EDGE-enabled handsets in the Orange portfolio - the Nokia 6280, 6630, 6680 and N70, and the SPV M5000 (developed for Orange by Taiwanese manufacturer HTC).

In addition, Orange will also introduce two new EDGE-enabled products to the UK business market this quarter - the BlackBerry® 8700g(tm) and Business Everywhere laptop data card. Business Everywhere users will benefit from the best network for business and seamless access to the EDGE, 3G, GPRS.and Wifi networks. The BlackBerry 8700g features an Intel processor and a re-engineered device platform that supports faster Web browsing and application performance.

Across Europe, Orange now has EDGE networks in UK, France, Slovakia, Romania, Poland and Belgium (Mobistar).

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For further information or imagery, call the Orange press office on 0870 990 5436 or Email: Orangepr@golinharris.com

Notes to Editors

About Orange
Orange, wirefree and any other Orange product or service referred to in this release are trademarks of Orange Personal Communications Services Ltd. In the UK, Orange provides high quality GSM coverage to 99% of the UK population, and offers roaming to pay monthly customers on 393 networks in 156 countries and to pay as you go customers on 131 networks in 67 countries. At the end of September 2005, Orange had over 14.6 million active UK customers. Across the world, Orange has 57.9 million customers.

In May 2005, Orange gained the top ranking for customer satisfaction among mobile phone contract customers in the annual J.D.Power and Associates 2005 UK Mobile Telephone Customers Satisfaction Study.  It is the seventh time Orange has been ranked top by the study. In October 2005, Orange won the Mobile Choice Consumer Awards - voted for by readers of Mobile Choice magazine - for Best Network Operator for the fifth year running. In the same month, Orange also won Best International Mobile Operator at the World Communications Awards. The judges said: "Orange is so solid, you cannot expect more."

Information about Orange can be found on the Orange website at www.orange.co.uk and media information can be found at www.orange.com

About Business Everywhere
Business Everywhere is the France Telecom Group worldwide portfolio of integrated mobility solutions available via a unique end user interface, accessible through any network (WiFi, ADSL, GPRS, Edge, 3G or PSTN ) on any device (PC, PDA) supporting any application (mail, voice, instant messaging and video). Business Everywhere is specially catered for all employees from SoHos to MNCs to access the Internet and their corporate applications wherever they are. Business Everywhere won the "Best New Service" award in October 2005 at the annual World Communication Awards. Available in France and Poland and now the United Kingdom, Business Everywhere is also proposed world wide to multinational corporations via Equant. Business Everywhere has already attracted more than 375,000 users in France.

Information about Orange can be found on the Orange website at www.orange.co.uk and media information can be found at www.orange.com.