Orange in Leaders Quadrant for Pan Western European Mobile Service Providers

London, Orange Business Services has been placed in the leaders quadrant in Gartner Inc.’s Magic Quadrant for Pan-Western European Mobile Service Providers, 2008.

To be included in the report, vendors needed to have a presence in three or more countries in Western Europe, a total subscriber base of more than 5 million, a business subscriber base of more than 1 million, and revenues from mobile services of €5 billion in the 12 months ending 31 March 2008. The report defines “leaders” as vendors who “provide mature offerings while demonstrating the vision needed to sustain a leading position in the market as requirements change. They invest in and focus on their offerings and service experience in a way that can affect the market’s direction. They have a proven track record in mobile voice and data services for enterprises, and they offer wide geographic coverage. They have also shown a commitment to invest in this business, which indicates that they are well placed for future success. Their products and services are relatively low-risk, but not necessarily the best for every project.”

Jacques Demaël, EVP of the entreprise line of business within the France Telecom Group, said, "Over the last year, we have strengthened our global leadership and vision in close collaboration with country operations and, in my opinion, this is reflected by our position in the Leaders Quadrant. We now have our own presence in Austria, Belgium, France, Spain, Switzerland and the UK with over 58 million subscribers , with a footprint augmented by the FreeMove alliance which extends coverage to 16 countries across Europe.

“The Enterprise Line of Business is driving Orange’s B2B strategy to provide unmatched levels of service in terms of financials, portfolio, reach and customer care within Orange countries. Our continued investment in mobile networks and ability to offer customers a seamless experience enables us to provide superior converged network solutions.” he concluded.

Orange Business Services was evaluated on its “ability to execute” and “completeness of vision,” which reflect the following specific criteria:

* Ability to Execute. Product/Service, Overall Viability (Business Organisation), Sales Execution/Pricing, Market Responsiveness and Track Record, Marketing Execution, Customer Experience, and Operations.
* Completeness of Vision. Market Understanding, Marketing Strategy, Sales Strategy, Offering (Product) Strategy, Business Model, Vertical/Industry Strategy, Innovation and Geographic Strategy.

For more information on the Gartner report, Gartner clients may go to www.Gartner.com.