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Written by Brody
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Monday, 06 December 2004 |
To commemorate Orange's 3G launch here's a look back (and forward) at Orange's progress into the 3G market.
• 1999: Orange begins trialling 3G technology in its dedicated UMTS testbed in Bristol
• 9 February 1999: UK auction process announced
• 27 April 2000: Licence awarded in the UK
• September 2003: Business customer trials begin in the UK (AXA, RAC, Nokia and Microsoft)
• September 2003, confirmation that Alcatel, Nokia and Nortel will be suppliers of 3G infrastructure
• October 2003: trials begin with business customers in the UK
• October 2003: Orange supports Nokia at launch of consumer 3G handset – Nokia 7600
• October 2003: Orange demonstrates services across 3G network at ITU telecoms event in Geneva
• February 2004: Orange announces 3G Strategy update:
• On-track to launch in France and the UK in the second half of 2004
• Orange network live in over 20 cities including London, Manchester, Cannes, Toulouse and Lille
• Orange 3G Developer centres to be launched across the globe
• Key partners in place – Alcatel, Nortel and Nokia working together to deliver fully integrated 3G Orange network
• Villes Orange, France:
• Extensive customer trial programme begins including a range of innovative services such as live tv, video messaging, data card etc.
Launch cities include:
• 30 April 2004, Toulouse
• 5 May, 2004, Lille
• 21 May 2004, Cannes
• 17 June, 2004, Bordeaux
• 22 September, Strasbourg
• 2 October 2004, Rennes
• 1 July 2004: Launch of the UK 3G mobile office card. SE and LG confirmed as group handset vendors
• 19 July 2004: Mobile office card available to customers in the UK
• 6 September 2004: launch of business 3G services in France. Mobile PC card launched to business customers with coverage in almost 20 major cities in France.
• 18 October 2004: launch of EDGE network in Romania. Using either EDGE enabled handsets or the EDGE data card, customers can access existing services as well as live TV on their handsets, at speeds of up to three times faster than GPRS.
• 29 October 2004. Optimus launches 3G services to customers in over 40 cities and towns.
• 4 November 2004: Orange announces infrastructure contracts in Switzerland (Nokia Networks) and Belgium (Nortel Networks).
• 6 December 2004: Orange announces launch of consumer 3G handsets and services in the UK and France.
• Q1 2005: launch of GPRS/EDGE Mobile Office Card in Slovakia.
• H1 2005: Mobistar will launch the 3G Mobile Office Card to business customers in Antwerp.
Orange majority controlled operations
• UK licence acquired: 27 April 2000 for £4.095 billion. Licence E. Renewal December 2021
• France licence acquired: October 2001 for €619 million. Renewal August 2021
• Belgium licence acquired March 2001.
• Denmark September / October 2001. Renewal October 2021
• Luxembourg June 2002. Renewal 2017
• Netherlands July 2000. Renewal December 2016
• Slovakia June 2002. Renewal July 2022
• Switzerland December 2000. Renewal December 2016
• Romania November 2004. Renewal November 2019
Minority shareholdings
• One Austria November 2000. Renewal December 2020
• Optimus Portugal December 2000. Renewal January 2016
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