Orange mobile UK was a
mobile network operator
A mobile network operator (MNO), also known as a wireless service provider, wireless carrier, cellular company, or mobile network carrier, is a provider of wireless communications services that owns or controls all the elements necessary to sell ...
and
internet service provider
An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise private ...
in the United Kingdom, launched in 1994. It was once a constituent of the
FTSE 100 Index
The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie" , is a share index of the 100 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange with (in principle) the highest market ...
but was purchased by France Télécom (now
Orange S.A.
Orange S.A. (), formerly France Télécom S.A. (stylized as france telecom) is a French multinational telecommunications corporation. It has 266 million customers worldwide and employs 89,000 people in France, and 59,000 elsewhere. In 2015, ...
) in 2000, which then adopted the Orange brand for all its other mobile communications activities. Orange UK merged with
Deutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom AG (; short form often just Telekom, DTAG or DT; stylised as ·T·) is a German telecommunications company that is headquartered in Bonn and is the largest telecommunications provider in Europe by revenue. Deutsche Telekom was ...
's
T-Mobile UK
T-Mobile UK was a mobile network operator in the UK. First launched as Mercury One2One (stylised one2one) on 7 January 1993, the network was originally operated by Mercury Communications. one2one was purchased by Deutsche Telekom in 1999, who ...
to form a joint venture,
EE in 2010. EE continued to operate the Orange brand until February 2015, when new connections and upgrades on Orange tariffs were withdrawn. Existing Orange customers could continue on their plans until March 2019.
History
Background: 1990–1994
The inception of the Orange brand occurred in 1990 in the United Kingdom with the formation of
Microtel Communications Ltd,
a consortium initially formed by
Pactel Corporation (American),
British Aerospace
British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. Formed in 1977, in 1999 it purchased Marconi ...
,
Millicom
Millicom International Cellular SA (NASDAQ U.S.: TIGO, NASDAQ Stockholm: TIGO_SDB) is a Luxembourgish fixed line and mobile telecommunications services provider dedicated to emerging markets in Latin America operating under the Tigo brand. As of D ...
and
Matra
Matra (an acronym for Mécanique Aviation Traction) was a French industrial conglomerate. During its years of operation, it was engaged in a wide range of business activities, primarily focused around automobiles, bicycles, aeronautics and we ...
(French);
and later wholly owned by BAe.
In July 1991, the Hong Kong-based conglomerate
Hutchison Whampoa
Hutchison Whampoa Limited (HWL) was an investment holding company based in Hong Kong. It was a Fortune Global 500 company and one of the largest companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. HWL was an international corporation with a dive ...
, through a
stock swap
In corporate finance a stock swap is the exchange of one equity-based asset for another, where, during the merger or acquisition, the swap provides an opportunity to pay with stock rather than with cash; see .
Overview
The acquiring company e ...
deal with BAe, acquired a controlling stake of 65% in Microtel, who by then had won a license to develop a
personal communications network
Personal communications network (PCN) is the European digital cellular mobile telephone network, developed in accordance with GSM standards.
The PCN system was first initiated by Lord Young, UK Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, in 1988. ...
in the United Kingdom.
As part of the deal, BAe gained a 30% stake in Hutchison Telecommunications (UK) Ltd.
Launch of Orange and expansion: 1994–1999
Hutchison renamed Microtel to Orange Personal Communications Services Ltd on 28 March 1994; and on 28 April 1994, the Orange 1800 MHz
GSM
The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to describe the protocols for second-generation ( 2G) digital cellular networks used by mobile devices such ...
network was launched. The Orange brand, at the time an unusual name for a telecommunications firm, was created by a team at Microtel led by Chris Moss (marketing director) and supported by Martin Keogh, Rob Furness and Ian Pond. The brand consultancy
Wolff Olins
Wolff Olins is a British advertising agency and corporate identity consultancy. It was started in 1965 and has offices in London, New York City and San Francisco. It now employs some 150 designers, strategists, technologists, programme managers ...
was charged with designing the brand values and logo, and advertising agency WCRS created the slogan "The future's bright, the future's Orange". The team that launched Orange in the UK was led by Malcolm Way, and later
Hans Snook
Hans Roger Snook (born 26 May 1948) is a British businessman, best known for his time as the founder (with Graham Howe) and chief executive of British mobile phone company Orange.
Early life
He was born to a German mother and a British father, a ...
who became the chief executive.
A
holding company
A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...
structure was adopted in 1995 with the establishment of Orange plc. In April 1996, Orange went public and floated on the
London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...
and
NASDAQ
The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...
,
majority owned by Hutchison (48.22%),
followed by BAe (21.1%).
In June 1996, it became the youngest company to enter the
FTSE 100
The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie" , is a share index of the 100 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange with (in principle) the highest market ...
, valued at £2.4 billion. By July 1997 Orange had gained one million customers.
Acquisition of Orange and part of France Télécom: 1999–2009
The stint as a public company came to an end in October 1999, when it was acquired for US$33 billion by the German conglomerate
Mannesmann AG
Mannesmann was a German industrial conglomerate. It was originally established as a manufacturer of steel pipes in 1890 under the name "Deutsch-Österreichische Mannesmannröhren-Werke AG". (Loosely translated: "German-Austrian Mannesmann pi ...
.
Mannesmann's acquisition of Orange triggered
Vodafone
Vodafone Group Public limited company, plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Telephone company, telecommunications company. Its registered office and Headquarters, global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It ...
to make a
hostile takeover
In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company (the ''target'') by another (the ''acquirer'' or ''bidder''). In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are listed on a stock exchange, in contrast to ...
bid for the German company. Shortly thereafter, in February 2000, Vodafone acquired Mannesmann for US$183bn and divested Orange, as
EU regulations would not allow it to hold two mobile licences.
In May 2000,
France Télécom
Orange S.A. (), formerly France Télécom S.A. (stylized as france telecom) is a French multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications corporation. It has 266 million customers worldwide and employs 89,000 people in France, and 5 ...
announced the acquisition of the global operations of Orange from Vodafone for US$37bn, and the transaction was completed in August 2000.
France Télécom subsequently rebranded all its mobile telecommunications as
Orange
Orange most often refers to:
*Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis''
** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower
*Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum
* ...
. The company was initially 100% owned by France Télécom (although there were and remain minority investors in some of the national operating companies). In 2001 15% was sold in an
IPO
An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...
, but in 2003 the outstanding shares were bought back by France Télécom.
Merger with T-Mobile UK: 2009–2015
On 8 September 2009,
France Télécom
Orange S.A. (), formerly France Télécom S.A. (stylized as france telecom) is a French multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications corporation. It has 266 million customers worldwide and employs 89,000 people in France, and 5 ...
and
T-Mobile
T-Mobile is the brand name used by some of the mobile communications subsidiaries of the German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom AG in the Czech Republic (T-Mobile Czech Republic), Poland (T-Mobile Polska), the United States (T-Mobile ...
parent
Deutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom AG (; short form often just Telekom, DTAG or DT; stylised as ·T·) is a German telecommunications company that is headquartered in Bonn and is the largest telecommunications provider in Europe by revenue. Deutsche Telekom was ...
announced they were in advanced talks to merge their UK operations to create the largest mobile operator, which would have 37% of the market. The Orange brand was to be retained for the first eighteen months at least.
Consumer Focus
The New National Consumer Council, operating as Consumer Futures, was a non-departmental public body and statutory consumer organisation in England, Wales, Scotland, and, for postal services, Northern Ireland. It was established by the Consumers, ...
and the
Communications Consumer Panel The Communications Consumer Panel is an independent UK body that works to protect and promote people’s interests in the communications sector. Consisting of eight independent experts, the Panel carries out research, provides advice and encourages ...
sent a joint letter to the then Competition Commissioner
Neelie Kroes
Neelie Kroes (; born 19 July 1941) is a retired Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and businessperson who served as European Commissioner from 22 November 2004 to 1 November 2014.
Kroes studied Economics at t ...
in December 2009, asking for the merger to be investigated by authorities in the United Kingdom, rather than
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
. The British
Office of Fair Trading
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) was a non-ministerial government department of the United Kingdom, established by the Fair Trading Act 1973, which enforced both consumer protection and competition law, acting as the United Kingdom's economic ...
joined this call by asking the EU to allow it to investigate the proposed deal in February 2010, saying that it believed the merger could have a 'significant' effect on competition.
On 1 March 2010 the European Commission approved the merger, on condition that the combined company sell 25% of the spectrum it owned on the 1800 MHz radio band, and amend a network sharing agreement with smaller rival
3.
On 1 April 2010 Deutsche Telekom and France Télécom completed the merger of their UK operations, causing Orange UK and T-Mobile UK to cease to exist, although the brands were to be maintained until 2015 for new customers, and 2019 for existing customers. On 11 May 2010 it was announced that both the Orange and T-Mobile brands would remain on British high streets, although their new merged parent company would be called
EE. Orange's broadband service was rebranded as EE Broadband on 30 October 2012.
Phase-out of brand: 2015-2019
In February 2015, Orange UK's parent company EE announced that Orange (along with T-Mobile) tariffs were withdrawn for new customers. Existing customers wishing to upgrade had to choose an EE price plan.
Starting in July 2015, Orange pay-as-you-go customers also had the ability to dial premium rate and directory enquiries numbers withdrawn. Those who needed to call such services were advised to transfer to an EE plan.
Remaining Orange customers were informed in early 2019 that they had to switch to an EE plan by March, or their services would be terminated. This marked the end of Orange service in the United Kingdom.
Services
![Orange and T](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Orange_and_T.Mobile_shops_in_Leeds.JPG)
Orange UK offered
pay-as-you-go
Pay as you go or PAYG may refer to:
Finance
* Pay-as-you-go tax, or pay-as-you-earn tax
* Pay-as-you-go pension plan
* PAYGO, the practice in the US of financing expenditures with current funds rather than borrowing
* PAUG, a structured financia ...
and
pay monthly service plans.
As with other prepaid plans, pay-as-you-go customers could top-up their phone via a swipe card, over the internet, by voucher bought printed as a receipt from a till, or via a credit or debit card.
Until the EE takeover, Orange UK operated
GPRS
General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is a packet oriented mobile data standard on the 2G and 3G cellular communication network's global system for mobile communications (GSM). GPRS was established by European Telecommunications Standards Insti ...
,
EDGE
Edge or EDGE may refer to:
Technology Computing
* Edge computing, a network load-balancing system
* Edge device, an entry point to a computer network
* Adobe Edge, a graphical development application
* Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed by ...
and
3G HSDPA services. This has since been merged with T-Mobile's network. Orange's
2G network covered 99% of the UK population, and was the largest integrated 3G/
2.5G network in the UK. Orange claimed in 2008 that it spent up to £1.5 million per day investing in its network. In 2009, Orange UK decided to outsource its mobile network.
Therefore, in March 2009,
Nokia Siemens Networks
Nokia Networks (formerly Nokia Solutions and Networks (NSN) and Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN)) is a multinational data networking and telecommunications equipment company headquartered in Espoo, Finland, and wholly owned subsidiary of Nokia Corp ...
was chosen to manage, plan, expand, optimise and provide maintenance services for the Orange UK 2G/3G mobile network for the next five years. Currently, Orange customers are only able to access the UK's biggest 3G network along with EE's standard 2G network. Customers that wish to use EE's 4G network, have to upgrade to EE from their Orange plan.
Orange UK also provided
DSL
Digital subscriber line (DSL; originally digital subscriber loop) is a family of technologies that are used to transmit digital data over telephone lines. In telecommunications marketing, the term DSL is widely understood to mean asymmetric dig ...
services under the same brand. Originally operated as
Freeserve
Freeserve was a British Internet service provider, which was founded in 1998. At its height, the company became a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index, before merging into the Wanadoo group in 2000. It then became a subsidiary of France Telecom, ...
in the UK, it was bought-out by
France Télécom
Orange S.A. (), formerly France Télécom S.A. (stylized as france telecom) is a French multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications corporation. It has 266 million customers worldwide and employs 89,000 people in France, and 5 ...
, rebranded as Wanadoo and on 1 June 2006 Wanadoo was rebranded Orange. When Orange launched its DSL broadband service it offered it for 'free', joining
TalkTalk in the foray for market share. The company attempted to converge its mobile and DSL broadband products and offered broadband services alongside its mobile services, at a subsidized rate (up to £15 off full price per month for Orange mobile customers in an Orange Broadband network area). Orange offered 'triple-play' services converging mobile, landline and DSL broadband. Orange UK on its most expensive broadband service used to offer a
Livebox
Orange Livebox is an ADSL wireless router available to customers of Orange's Broadband services in Kenya, Guinea, France, Tunisia, Spain, Jordan, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Poland, Belgium, The United Kingdom ( Formerly), Mauritian part ...
which integrates
VoIP
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also called IP telephony, is a method and group of technologies for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. The terms Internet t ...
technology as well as
WiFi
Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio waves ...
, but in more recent times, this has been replaced by a
Netgear router.
Orange also created an energy harvesting T-shirt and shoes.
Price plans
In 2000, Orange introduced a limited plan called 'Out Here', designed for users who did not make a lot of calls but needed to keep in touch. For a one-off payment of £15, users received a SIM with five free texts every day for life without ever having to top up again, and an Orange-branded 'Out Here' drawstring bag.
In April 2006, Orange changed its contract offering by offering four packages to customers, named Dolphin, Canary, Racoon and Panther. On some plans there were unlimited minutes (to landlines or Orange UK mobiles), texts or data. In addition to this Orange offered dedicated business plans: Solo and Sense (a sharer plan). Orange also offered 'magic numbers': unlimited free calls to other Orange UK mobiles on contract or "talk for an hour, pay for a minute" on PAYG.
In April 2008, Orange extended its animals to pay-as-you-go customers, introducing Dolphin, Raccoon, Canary, Camel, and Monkey. Dolphin, Monkey and Canary offer bonuses, whilst Raccoon is a discounted call rate and Camel is for a call-abroad tariff giving discounted calls to foreign countries.
Orange, like other mobile networks, offered an "Internet Everywhere" tariff on pay-as-you-go, pay monthly and business plans. The tariffs names for pay monthly were aligned with the animals' theme in May 2010 when Orange offered both Dolphin and Raccoon plans for internet use available on both 1 month and 12-month contracts. In August 2011, the price plans were revised, and names changed to Small, Medium, and Large. Similar to home broadband, Orange mobile customers received a £5 discount on their mobile broadband plan. The business plans remained as "Business Everywhere". The 12-month plans came with a
USB modem
A mobile broadband modem, also known as wireless modem or cellular modem, is a type of modem that allows a personal computer or a router to receive wireless Internet access via a mobile broadband connection instead of using telephone or cable tel ...
(or dongle) for free. The customer was required to pay a small price for the dongle on the 1-month plans. A portable WiFi dongle could also be purchased, dubbed "Mobile WiFi". The service operated across the network's
EDGE
Edge or EDGE may refer to:
Technology Computing
* Edge computing, a network load-balancing system
* Edge device, an entry point to a computer network
* Adobe Edge, a graphical development application
* Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed by ...
,
3G,
HSDPA
High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) is an amalgamation of two mobile protocols—High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA)—that extends and improves the performance of existing 3G mobile telecommunicat ...
and
HSUPA
High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) is an amalgamation of two mobile protocols—High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA)—that extends and improves the performance of existing 3G mobile telecommunic ...
network and offered speeds of up to 3.6 Mbit/s. Orange announced in June 2008 that this speed would be increased to 7.2 Mbit/s in the top 30 UK cities and 14.4 Mbit/s in the top five cities.
Orange shops
![London - Orange Shop](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/London_-_Orange_Shop.jpg)
Orange, like its competitors, operated a retail estate, with over 300 stores. These were branded as "The Orange Shop" and operated as an indirect sales channel.
In September 2012, Orange's parent company
EE announced that all Orange and T-Mobile stores were to be re-branded as EE stores by 30 October 2012, the launch date of their
4G network, offering products from all three brands of the company. There are now around 700
EE stores open in the UK. After February 2015, only EE products were available in stores.
Marketing
Orange Gold Spots
Until 2012, at most cinemas across the UK, advertisements for Orange were shown directly before the film, after the other adverts and film trailers, to remind people to turn off their mobile phones if they hadn't done so already. These were officially known as 'Orange Gold Spots'. The adverts featured various celebrities including;
Rob Lowe
Robert Hepler Lowe (born March 17, 1964) is an American actor, filmmaker, and podcast host. He made his acting debut at the age of 15 with ABC's short-lived sitcom ''A New Kind of Family'' (1979–1980). Following numerous television roles in ...
,
Dennis Hopper
Dennis Lee Hopper (May 17, 1936 – May 29, 2010) was an American actor, filmmaker and photographer. He attended the Actors Studio, made his first television appearance in 1954, and soon after appeared in ''Giant'' (1956). In the next ten years ...
,
Macaulay Culkin
Macaulay Macaulay Culkin Culkin (born Macaulay Carson Culkin; ) is an American actor. Often regarded as one of the most successful child actors of the 1990s, he was placed 2nd on VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Kid-Stars". Culkin rose to prom ...
,
Patrick Swayze
Patrick Wayne Swayze (; August 18, 1952 – September 14, 2009) was an American actor, dancer, and singer known for playing distinctive lead roles, particularly romantic, tough, and comedic characters. He was also known for his media image and ...
,
Carrie Fisher
Carrie Frances Fisher (October 21, 1956 – December 27, 2016) was an American actress and writer. She played Princess Leia in the ''Star Wars'' films (1977–1983). She reprised the role in'' Star Wars: The Force Awakens'' (2015), ''The Last ...
,
John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Emerging from the Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and ...
,
Ewan McGregor
Ewan Gordon McGregor ( ; born 31 March 1971) is a Scottish actor. His accolades include a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and the BAFTA Britannia Humanitarian Award. In 2013, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British ...
, and
The A-Team
''The A-Team'' is an American action-adventure television series that ran on NBC from January 1983 to March 1987 about former members of a fictitious United States Army Special Forces unit. The four members of the team were tried by court marti ...
. Throughout the sketch, a pair of fictional Orange executives, played by
Brennan Brown
Brennan Brown (born November 23, 1968) is an American film, television, and stage actor. He currently plays Dr. Samuel Abrams on NBC's ''Chicago Med''. He played Robert Childan on Amazon's '' Man in the High Castle''.
Career
He received his M ...
and
Steve Furst
Steven Jonathan Furst (born 3 September 1967) is a British comedian, actor and writer. He appeared in the Orange mobile phone cinema adverts in the UK (with Brennan Brown), playing the role of Eliot, a spoof studio executive, and has appeared ...
, manipulate an idea into film which promotes Orange through
product placement
Product placement, also known as embedded marketing, is a marketing technique where references to specific brands or products are incorporated into another work, such as a film or television program, with specific promotional intent. Much of th ...
, despite the product being completely 'out-of-place' (a mobile phone in a
Western Film
The Western is a genre set in the American frontier and commonly associated with folk tales of the Western United States, particularly the Southwestern United States, as well as Northern Mexico and Western Canada. It is commonly referred ...
is one example); the catch line is "Don't let a mobile phone ruin your movie. Please switch it off." After five years, Orange changed advertising agencies and replaced the fictional Orange Film Funding Board with adverts in which the characters now run a film studio, remaking classic films with mobile phone references inserted.
In April 2010, Gold Spots featuring specific forthcoming films replaced the Orange Film Funding Board parodies. The new adverts, promoting specific movies released by
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
,
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. The studio is the flagship producer of live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Studios uni ...
,
Vertigo Films
Vertigo Films is a British television and film production company based in London, England. Vertigo Films has been responsible for the production and distribution of ''Bronson (film), Bronson'', ''StreetDance 3D'', and ''Monsters (2010 film), ...
and
Nu Image
Millennium Media, formerly Nu Image, is an American film studio that was founded by Avi Lerner, Trevor Short, Danny Dimbort, and Danny Lerner in 1992 and is one of Hollywood's longest running independent film companies. Millennium creates, produc ...
feature the stars of the movie filming scenes in-character with Orange product placement, before breaking character to complain. The first advert featured the cast of ''
The A-Team
''The A-Team'' is an American action-adventure television series that ran on NBC from January 1983 to March 1987 about former members of a fictitious United States Army Special Forces unit. The four members of the team were tried by court marti ...
'', followed by a spot starring Jack Black in ''
Gulliver's Travels
''Gulliver's Travels'', or ''Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships'' is a 1726 prose satire by the Anglo-Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan ...
'',
Jesse Eisenberg
Jesse Adam Eisenberg (; born October 5, 1983) is an American actor, writer, and director. He has received various accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards, a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awar ...
and
Anne Hathaway
Anne Jacqueline Hathaway (born November 12, 1982) is an American actress. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Anne Hathaway, various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Awar ...
in ''
Rio
Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil.
Rio or Río may also refer to:
Geography Brazil
* Rio de Janeiro
* Rio do Sul, a ...
'', ''
Potiche
''Potiche'' is a 2010 comedy film written and directed by François Ozon, based on the play of the same name by Pierre Barillet and Jean-Pierre Gredy. It stars Catherine Deneuve, Gérard Depardieu, Fabrice Luchini, Karin Viard, Judith Godrèche ...
'', ''
The Muppets
The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an absurdist, burlesque, and self-referential style of variety- sketch comedy. Created by Jim Henson in 1955, they are the focus of a media franchise that encompasses ...
'', ''
The Expendables 2
''The Expendables 2'' is a 2012 American action film directed by Simon West, written by Richard Wenk and Sylvester Stallone and based on a story by Ken Kaufman, David Agosto and Wenk. Brian Tyler returned to score the film. It is the sequel to ...
'' and ''
The Sweeney
''The Sweeney'' is a 1970s British television police drama focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London. It stars John Thaw as Detective Ins ...
''.
In 2012, the Orange adverts were replaced with adverts for parent company EE, featuring Kevin Bacon.
In addition to this Orange offered 'Orange Wednesdays' from 2003 until 2014. This enabled any Orange customer to apply for 2 for 1 cinema tickets at participating cinemas, by text message. This was a result of Orange attempting to increase cinema visits during the quiet weekly periods. The Orange Wednesdays promotion also allowed Orange customers a 2 for 1 main courses with complimentary appetizers at
PizzaExpress
PizzaExpress is a British multinational restaurant group, owned by a group of bondholders. It has over 470 restaurants across the United Kingdom and 100 overseas in Europe, Hong Kong, China, India, Indonesia, Kuwait, the Philippines, the Unit ...
restaurants. Both the cinema ticket and meal offers only required a text ticket from Orange, which is entered at point of purchase.
EE announced on 11 December 2014 that the Orange Wednesday promotion will end on 25 February 2015.
Sponsorship
![Jos Verstappen 2000 Monza (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Jos_Verstappen_2000_Monza_%28cropped%29.jpg)
Orange sponsored the
Arrows Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
team from 2000 until 2002.
In spirit with Orange's commitment to cinema Orange sponsored the
British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards until 2012 which includes an award in its own name – the
Orange Rising Star Award. Sponsorship switched to EE from 2013 onwards.
Orange UK has also shown a commitment to music which has included partnering with the
Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...
to provide mobile charging facilities and offers a music bursary.
Slogans
In 2008, Orange's slogan, "The future's bright – the future's Orange" was dropped after many years by its CEO Tom Alexander in a bid to save its ailing fortunes.
From July 2008 to 2013, "I am"' became the main slogan, shortened from "I am who I am because of everyone", however, subsidiary slogans were used to describe the company's products and services, for example "I am more focus, less fuzz" was used to describe the
Samsung Soul
The Samsung SGH-U900 (marketed as the Samsung Soul) is a slider mobile phone from Samsung Telecommunications. It was introduced at Mobile World Congress on 11 February 2008. It is a member of Samsung's fashion-focused "Ultra" line of handsets ...
handset.
Controversies
Data protection
In 2007, Orange was found to be in breach of the
Data Protection Act 1998
The Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA, c. 29) was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom designed to protect personal data stored on Computer, computers or in an organised paper filing system. It enacted provisions from the European Union (EU) Da ...
by the
Information Commissioner's Office
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is a non-departmental public body which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). It is the independe ...
(ICO) after complaints from customers about the use of their personal information. Orange has since agreed to reinforce the requirements of the Act.
The company was also criticised in the press for its handling of personal data, following complaints of Orange customer data being used by independent mobile sales companies in the practice of
slamming
Slamming is the impact of the bottom structure of a ship onto the sea surface. It is mainly observed while sailing in waves, when the bow raises from the water and subsequently impacts on it. Slamming induces extremely high loads to ship structure ...
. Orange denied any involvement.
Attempted price increases
In August 2009, Orange attempted to increase the cost of its services to customers already under contract.
Users were informed that legally, they were allowed to cancel their contract, as this was a breach of contract. Orange reverted their decision, and the price hikes did not go ahead.
In December 2011, Orange sent a text to its customer base to notify them that they were increasing monthly contract fees by just below
RPI rates. They imposed a 4.34% increase, coming into effect on 8 January. It was identified that the clause that supposedly allowed Orange to increase by inflation mid-contract, clause 4.3.1, was flawed as it referenced a Statistical Office which no longer exists. Specifically, Orange referenced "the All Items Index of Retail Prices published by the Central Statistical Office in the Monthly Digest of Statistics". Orange maintain that their inaccurate wording in previous contracts was legally binding but chose to settle all known court cases brought against them on this issue.
Two years later, following its merger with T-Mobile, the combined companies again signalled their intention to increase the agreed tariffs of existing pay monthly customers.
Clause 4.3.1 has now changed to disallow the customer from cancelling their contract if "we give you written notice to increase the charges (as a percentage) by an amount equal to or less than the percentage increase in the All Items Index of Retail Prices or any other statistical measure of inflation published by any government body authorised to publish measures of inflation from time to time, and published on a date as close as reasonably possible before the date on which we send you written notice". This led to many customers using the change of clause to cancel their mobile phone contracts with Orange.
See also
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Orange S.A.
Orange S.A. (), formerly France Télécom S.A. (stylized as france telecom) is a French multinational telecommunications corporation. It has 266 million customers worldwide and employs 89,000 people in France, and 59,000 elsewhere. In 2015, ...
References
External links
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Orange Shopping websiteOfficial Campaign Website
{{Authority control
Orange S.A.
Mobile phone companies of the United Kingdom
Companies based in Hertfordshire
Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange
British companies established in 1994
Telecommunications companies established in 1994
Deutsche Telekom
Former CK Hutchison Holdings subsidiaries
Former internet service providers of the United Kingdom