Orange retains position as the top mobile broadband provider in the UK

• Orange’s mobile broadband service revealed as the most reliable, according to YouGov survey
  
• Customers rank Orange top in nine categories including for ‘upload speed’ and ‘ease of use’

Orange has retained its position as the top mobile broadband provider in the UK, according to a survey by independent research company YouGov. Orange was ranked top for customer services and reliability, while customers also rated Orange’s mobile broadband service top in a further seven out of 15 categories, including ‘ease of use’ and ‘upload speeds’.*

Orange offers a selection of mobile broadband and connected laptops in the UK, and in November 2009, made it even easier for customers to access content online by offering two new dongles, the Orange e1752 and the Option 515M, as well as two new laptops; the Asus 1005HGO and the embedded Compaq CQ61, both featuring the operating system Windows 7.

With the UK's biggest 3G network covering over 93% of the population, Orange continues to invest in its network as part of its commitment to evolve the company’s offering and give customers consistent quality - quality of network, products, service and experience.

Asif Aziz, Director of Broadband and Home, Orange UK said: “Retaining our position as the top mobile broadband provider in the UK is a great accomplishment which we’re really proud of. This win is recognition of our strong focus on network quality and brilliant customer service and its our aim to build on these, as well as the products and services we offer, to ensure our customers continue to benefit from a high quality user experience.

Orange’s mobile broadband was also ranked number one in YouGov’s Dongle Tracker survey in October 2009.

For more on Orange’s mobile broadband packages, please visit Orange shops or www.orange.co.uk

 END

*Notes

Orange ranked top in the following categories:

    * Installation
    * Getting connected
    * Staying connected
    * Reliability during the day
    * Reliability during in the evening
    * Upload speeds
    * Ease of use
    * Customer services
    * Billing

About YouGov’s Dongle Tracker survey

All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc.  Total sample size was 4,944 adults, of which 2,037 used mobile broadband by means of a dongle, modem stick, or datacard. Orange’s mobile broadband sample was 187 customers. This is the seventh wave of an independent study. Fieldwork was undertaken between 13th January and 20th January 2010. MVNOs have been excluded. The survey was carried out online. The figures have not been weighted.

About Orange

Orange is the key brand of the France Telecom Group, one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators. With 123 million customers, the Orange brand now covers Internet, television and mobile services in the majority of countries where the Group operates.

In the UK, Orange provides high quality GSM coverage to 99% of the UK population, and 3G coverage to more than 93%. At the end of September 2009, Orange had more than 17 million customers in the UK – 16.11 million active mobile customers and approximately 900,000 fixed broadband customers.

At the end of 2008, France Telecom had consolidated sales of 53.5 billion euros (12.7 billion euros for the first quarter of 2009) and at 31st March 2009, the Group had a customer base of almost 184 million customers in 32 countries. These include 123 million mobile customers worldwide and 13 million broadband Internet (ADSL) customers in Europe. Orange is the number three mobile operator and the number one provider of broadband Internet services in Europe and, under the brand Orange Business Services, is one of the world leaders in providing telecommunication services to multinational companies.

Orange and any other Orange product or service names included in this material are trademarks of Orange Personal Communications Services Limited.

For more information please call the Orange Press Office 0870 3731500 or visit www.orange.co.uk/newsroom