Breaking news, information, and analysis on the latest mobile phones and mobile technology
We told you consolidation is coming to Austria, and voila – the local branch of Hutchison Three has finally (started) acquiring Orange Austria, having agreed to pay 1.3 billion EUR to France Telecom which owns 35% stake and private equity investors Mid Europa Partners (65%). As part of the deal, Hutchison will sell frequencies, base…
Orange and the Wikimedia Foundation are teaming-up to provide more than 70 million Orange customers in Africa and the Middle East (AMEA) with free mobile access to Wikipedia. The goal of the partnership is to “make knowledge more easily available to Orange mobile customers,” while getting some press love along the way. And since it’s…
Even though it was just announced at the CES in Las Vegas, Sony has already managed to secure distribution for its Xperia S smartphone in the UK, where 3 of the leading mobile operators will offer the powerful device. Telefónica’s O2, Orange and Hutchison’s Three are all on board, while Vodafone said it “has no…
France Telecom confirmed it is selling Orange Switzerland to private equity firm Apax Partners for 1.6 billion EUR. Previous rumors indicated some other potential buyers, including private equity firms EQT and Providence, as well as a bid from Xavier Niel (the French telecoms entrepreneur, who had teamed with Goldman Sachs), and Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris.…
As part of the strategy to optimize its asset portfolio, France Telecom is selling its Swiss unit, Orange Switzerland, to Apax Partners for 2 billion CHF ($2.14 billion), which corresponds to a multiple of 6.5x of the company’s estimated 2011 EBITDA. The transaction is still a subject to the approval of the Swiss authorities and…
Orange’s San Francisco II will soon be available in white. Such a device already “earned” a place at the carrier’s “Coming Soon” page though we still don’t know when exactly it will be released. Aside from a different color, there won’t be any other changes included. In that sense, expect the same 3.5-inch WVGA touchscreen,…
Hong Kong’s Hutchison Whampoa, which operates Three (brand) mobile networks, is reportedly offering 1.4 billion EUR for Orange Austria to merge it with its operations in the country (3 Austria). According to local press reports, a deal could go through as soon as next month, though none of the parties involved commented. At the moment,…
Yeah we knew Orange is preparing to launch the San Francisco II, a successor to the entry-level ZTE-made Android smartphone. The France Telecom-owned carrier isn’t that quiet about the device launch any more, having released a promotional video on YouTube. That, however, doesn’t mean the phone got its page on Orange’s website – or at…
We’ve already told you Orange and ZTE are working on the next San Francisco smartphone and… it’s almost here as you can see from the leaked press image above. Unfortunately we still have no idea when Orange will officially launch the San Francisco II, but it’s fair to argue that will happen sooner rather than…
The Acer Liquid Express is now available from Orange UK. We’ve first seen this low-to-mid end Android smartphone back in September and now everyone can get it for free on a plan that costs at least 20.50 GBP per month. That money either gets you 300 minutes and unlimited texts; or 100 minutes, unlimited texts,…