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Orange Launches ‘Orange Partner Connect’ A New Service Hub Dedicated to the Developer Community


WEBWIRE

Paris

* New hub marks a step-change in the way Orange engages with the developer community
* Gives developers a single distribution point to get their apps to Orange customers in all Orange markets
* A comprehensive set of new online services that puts transparency and trust at the heart of the relationship between developers and Orange
* Available first for Android applications, then extended to BlackBerry and Java with device and country-targeted publishing in the Orange App Shop

Orange today announces the launch of Orange Partner Connect, a new service that enables application developers to directly submit applications to be distributed in the Orange App Shop, bringing the developer community closer than ever to Orange’s customers.

Orange Partner Connect has been specifically created to give developers a straightforward, quick and transparent way to bring applications to market and monetise them on multiple operating systems, across the Orange global footprint. From December 2010 developers will be able to submit their Android applications with Java and Blackberry applications accepted in the first quarter of 2011.

Orange Partner Connect simplifies the submission, testing and publishing process of applications that will be distributed in the Orange App Shop and marks a step-change in the way Orange works with application providers in each local country. Through a web-based portal, developers can register online; sign a single online agreement to distribute their applications through the Orange App Shop in the markets of their choice; submit applications; create their publishing account; benefit from application review and quality assurance testing from Orange experts; know when their applications go on sale in each county; monitor sales and downloads; and collect payments.

With Orange Partner Connect, developers benefit from a new opportunity to monetise their applications within Orange’s trusted application retail environment (Orange App Shop), which is fully integrated with Orange billing and customer care services. As each of the Orange App Shops are locally managed and optimised to meet the needs of each local market and device, using Orange Partner Connect enables developers to better segment the merchandising and monetisation of mobile applications and content while addressing different consumers and business user segments.

Orange Partner Connect offers developers a 70/30 revenue share for referencing and for standard publication of their applications in the Orange App Shop. In addition, Orange Partner Connect will be offering developers the opportunity to allocate a portion of their revenue to value-added retail marketing services with dedicated ad banners or application promotion campaigns being made available progressively in each country to support the visibility and awareness of selected applications.

“We have learned from our experience in publishing Orange-branded applications on various app stores and listened to the needs of application developers to create a service that works for them. Orange Partner Connect has been designed so that our developer partners can benefit from Orange’s global scale, local presence and trusted customer relationships. With this new service we aim to establish a transparent win-win business partnership that developers can trust to truly market their applications to local audiences,” said Yves Tyrode, Executive Vice President of Orange Technocentre.

Orange Partner Connect is accessible from the Orange Partner web site. Orange Partner was established in 2004 and is a strong link between the application developer community and Orange customers – consumers and businesses – around the world. The Orange Partner programme provides commercial and technical support as well as device, customer and local country insights online, as well as leveraging its Developer Centre network and events presence, to give developers the information they need to succeed.

“Consumers want choice and simplicity when accessing high quality applications. They want to enjoy the discovery of useful and entertaining content on their device with peace of mind. Thanks to the value-based relationship we are building with our developer partners, our customers will be able to choose from a wide selection of quality and locally relevant applications on their device,” said Christophe François, Vice President of Mobile Multimedia at Orange.
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 30 September 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 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.

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.



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