World premiere: High Definition mobile voice now possible between two countries

• Orange overcomes technical challenges to deliver the world’s first HD voice direct interconnect between two operators
• Orange reinforces its leadership position again as the world’s first operator to launch HD voice

Paris, 25-10-2012 — /europawire.eu/ — International Mobile HD voice: a technical challenge

From  today, Orange customers in Romania and Moldova will be able to enjoy HD  quality voice calls between the two countries. For the first time in the  world, Orange has been able to interconnect these two mobile networks  with different infrastructure to ensuring end-to-end HD voice quality  from one country to another. From now on, when a call is made between  two HD voice mobile phones from these countries, Orange customers will  enjoy crystal clear sound instead of “standard” voice quality.

This  achievement is the fruit of an international project team’s labours,  bringing together key skill sets within the Group, Moldova and Romania.  The success of mobile HD voice in these adjacent countries, alongside  their linguistic and cultural proximity, is at the root of Orange  Romania and Orange Moldova’s decision to extend the mobile HD voice  offering between their two countries.

“Mobile HD voice offers  noticeably better audio quality, and brings a real satisfaction to  Orange clients. Almost 4 million customers have switched to HD voice in  14 countries, compared to 1 million customers a year ago. This is a true  commercial success and demonstrates Orange’s commitment to give our  customers the best mobile experience available”, said Paul-François  Fournier, Orange’s Technocentre Executive VP.

Orange’s ambition is to make HD voice calling accessible by 2013

As  the world’s first operator to launch HD voice in Moldova in 2009,  Orange is pursuing a strategy to make HD voice mobile generally  accessible, for it to become the communication standard of tomorrow.

HD  voice brings an impression of closeness and presence, a clearer, richer  and more natural sound and significantly reduced background noise in  noisy environments, making it easier to understand conversations, even  whispered. Furthermore, it’s now available on a wide range of compatible  mobile phones: close to 80 models from 10 different suppliers.

Orange  already offers mobile HD voice in 14 countries: Moldova, Armenia,  Belgium, France (Metropolitan and Reunion), Spain (Catalonia), United  Kingdom, Egypt (Cairo), Luxembourg, Mauritius, Romania, Dominican  Republic, Kenya, Uganda and Jordan. Further launches in Africa and the  Middle East are scheduled by the end of 2012.

Hear the difference between standard voice and High Definition voice: www.orange.com/hdvoice

about Orange

France Telecom-Orange is one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators with sales of 45.3 billion euros for 2011 and has 170,000 employees worldwide at 30 June 2012, including 105,000 employees in France. Present in 33 countries, the Group has a total customer base of 224 million customers at 30 June 2012, including 166 million mobile customers and 15 million broadband internet (ADSL, fibre) customers worldwide. Orange is one of the main European operators for mobile and broadband internet services and, under the brand Orange Business Services, 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.
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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.

press contact

Khadija Komara
+33 1 44 44 93 93
khadija.komara@orange.com