Orange Business tops mid-year Global Provider Leaderboard for Business Ethernet services

with market-leading, end-to-end managed Business Ethernet services in 62 countries

Orange Business is the leading global provider of Business Ethernet Services for the fourth consecutive time, according to Vertical Systems Group’s latest Global Provider Ethernet Leaderboard. The biannual Leaderboard ranks service providers that hold a four percent or greater share of the total market for retail Ethernet ports installed outside the providers’ respective home countries.

Orange Business offers International Ethernet Link, its Ethernet offer for large MNC customers in 40 countries, and Ethernet access to IP-based VPN is available in 62 countries.
International Ethernet Link offers four classes of service designed to prioritize different data streams: voice, standard data, critical data and real-time video. As a result, critical applications, or those requiring real-time performance such as video, are prioritized.

France Telecom Orange continues investing in Ethernet with a goal of providing speeds from 100 Mbps to 10 Gbps for Ethernet access worldwide at strategic customer sites. During the first half of 2011, Orange Business added more than 1,100 Ethernet connections, an increase of more than 20 percent.

"Orange Business retained the top position on the mid-2011 Global Provider Leaderboard by delivering higher speed Ethernet connectivity to IP VPN customer sites across its extensive global Ethernet footprint," said Rick Malone, principal at Vertical Systems Group.

“Very high broadband is a key growth area for Orange Business and part of our conquests 2015 corporate strategy,” said Nicolas Roy, head of the Network Solutions Business Unit, Orange Business. “As the leading global provider of Ethernet Services, Orange Business continues to enhance our offer in order to meet our customers’ evolving needs. For example, we offer multiservice Ethernet access through the Integrated Access option to our International Ethernet Link customers. Integrated Access allows companies to optimize network access costs and complete their architecture with hybrid solutions.”

About Orange Business
Orange Business, the France Telecom Orange branch dedicated to B2B services, is a leading global integrator of communications solutions for multinational corporations. With the world's largest, seamless network for voice and data, Orange Business reaches 220 countries and territories with local support in 166. Offering a comprehensive package of communication services covering cloud computing, enterprise mobility, M2M, security, unified communications, videoconferencing, and broadband, Orange Business delivers a best-in-class customer experience across a global landscape. Thousands of enterprise customers and 1.4 million mobile data users rely on an Orange Business international platform for communicating and conducting business. Orange Business is a four-time winner of Best Global Operator at the World Communication Awards. Learn more at www.orange-business.com

France Telecom Orange is one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators with 170,000 employees worldwide and sales of 22.6 billion euros in the first semester 2011. Orange is the Group's single brand for Internet, television and mobile services in the majority of countries where the company operates. France Telecom (NYSE:FTE) is listed on Euronext Paris (compartment A) and on the New York Stock Exchange.

Orange and any other Orange product or service names included in this material are trade marks of Orange Brand Services Limited, Orange France or France Telecom.

About Vertical Systems Group
Vertical Systems Group (www.verticalsystems.com) is recognized worldwide as a leading market research and strategic consulting firm specializing in defensible quantification of the networking industry.  For more than twenty five years, Vertical has delivered in-depth market insight on data and emerging network technologies to its clients throughout the world. The firm’s biannual Global Provider and U.S. Ethernet Leaderboards are the benchmarks for measuring business Ethernet market presence. Vertical’s syndicated ENS Research Programs offer comprehensive "real world" statistics and research analysis for business and product planning. For additional information, visit www.verticalsystems.com.