Orange Business highlights strategic focus on Middle East region at conference in Oman

Orange Business, the B2B arm of France Telecom-Orange and one of the largest ICT employers in the Middle East, has identified the Middle East as a strategic region for the next five years. The company is focusing on the opportunities presented by smart cities, cloud computing and the development of the enterprise services market.

This strategy was presented during the annual Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (EEMEA) regional meeting held in Muscat.  Customers and partners joined more than 200 senior Orange Business staff representing 80 countries.

Philippe Koebel, Senior Vice President and Head of Emerging Markets for Orange Business, said:  “Orange Business has all of the needed assets in the region to contribute to our strong business ambition in the emerging markets of generating 1 billion euros in revenue by 2015. We offer a full range of solutions from various local network access options through Business VPN up to telepresence, unified communications and fully connected smart cities. With 2,000 regional staff, five regional offices, a major service center, and two Orange labs, Orange Business is well equipped to meet the needs of our customers whether simple or complex.”  

Orange Business is a smart city pioneer, delivering telecommunications infrastructure solutions to cities that provide ubiquitous IP-based infrastructure and connectivity, backed by innovative related ICT services, including voice solutions, business and on-demand connectivity, public Wi-Fi and state-of-the-art security.

2010 proved to be a successful year for Orange Business in the region with 10 major new clients added and a range of high profile smart city project wins. Orange Business supports more than 500 multinational customers in EEMEA, including:  BHP Billiton, Ecobank, Lafarge, MAF Carrefour, Omantel, South African Breweries, and United Arab Shipping Company (UASC).

To address the cloud computing demand, Orange Business appointed its first Middle East & Africa Regional Cloud Director in August 2010 and, along with Cisco, EMC and VMware, announced Flexible 4 Business to offer end-to-end cloud computing services for enterprises.

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 169,000 employees worldwide, and sales of 45.5 billion euros in 2010. 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.