Orange Business received Best Managed Service and Best Project Management awards at World Communication Awards 2010

Orange Business was awarded two of the telecom industry’s highest accolades at Wednesday night’s annual World Communication Awards (WCA) held in London. Orange Business received the Best Managed Service and Best Project Management awards.

"Best Managed Service" recognizes the leading market position of our Business VPN managed network service. "A very impressive international managed network for scope, quality & customer base;” "very impressive customer wins in the past year;” "from the perspective of enterprise managed services, they have a leadership position," said the WCA judges.

"Best Project Management" celebrates the success of the Hermes II project for the Belgium Federal Public Service of Foreign Affairs, providing value added services through a full redundant setup of WAN and LAN services ranging from firewalls, routers, WAN optimization and encryption devices, spanning 100 countries. "Orange Business was a runaway winner in this category;” "an excellent example of challenging project executed well and quickly," commented the WCA judges.

Jorg Leenaards, ICT Director of the Belgium Federal Public Service of Foreign Affairs, commented:  “This award for Best Project Management is truly deserved. It represents another confirmation that the public tender award towards Orange was based on the right criteria. Since it takes two to tango, I also consider it a recognition for the way the project was run on our side and a fine example on how a well managed project quickly turns into a win-win situation for both parties.”  

“Orange Business produced two of the best-received entries in this year’s awards,” said David Molony, Principal Analyst at Ovum and WCA Chair of Judges. “Hermes II project is a brilliant example of how to manage a complex international project. No fewer than eight [of 17] judges gave it their top mark. Business VPN continues to prove itself again and again as a lead international VPN service.”

Celebrating 12 years of corporate and personal success in global communications, the World
Communication Awards, recognizes significant achievements and developments in the global telecoms industry.

Vivek Badrinath, CEO, Orange Business, commented, “It is truly an honor for Orange Business to be recognized at the prestigious 2010 World Communications Awards. Winning these awards encourages us to serve our customers with continued dedication and passion. These awards go to our employees all around the world that work tirelessly to ensure an outstanding customer experience.”

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 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

About Orange
Orange is the key brand of France Telecom, one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators. With more than 131 million customers, the Orange brand covers internet, television and mobile services in the majority of countries where the Group operates. At the end of 2009, France Telecom had sales of 44.8 billion euros (33.7 billion euros for the first nine months of 2010). At Sept. 30, 2010, the Group had a total customer base of 203 million customers in 32 countries. These include 144.5 million mobile customers and 13.3 million broadband Internet (ADSL, FTTH) customers worldwide. Orange is one of the main European operators for mobile and broadband Internet services and, under the brand Orange Business, is one of the world leaders in providing telecommunication services to multinational companies.

With its industrial project, "conquests 2015", Orange is simultaneously addressing its employees, customers and shareholders, as well as the society in which the company operates, through a concrete set of action plans. These commitments are expressed through a new vision of human resources for employees; through the deployment of a network infrastructure upon which the Group will build its future growth; through the Group's ambition to offer a superior customer experience thanks in particular to improved quality of service; and through the acceleration of international development.

France Telecom (NYSE:FTE) is listed on Euronext Paris (compartment A) and on the New York Stock Exchange.

For more information (on the Internet and on your mobile): www.orange.com, www.orange-business.com, www.orange-innovation.tv

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.