France Telecom changes name to Orange

Its customers around the world already call France’s incumbent telecom operator by its brand name Orange, and France Telecom shareholders decided to make it official. Shareholders overwhelmingly voted to formally approve the name change at the group’s annual general meeting in Paris.

The change will come into effect on July 1, and will include the company’s stock exchange ticket symbol. France Telecom has been used since the company was separated from the state in 1990, making the move symbolic within the group and, in particular, for employees in France. Orange was first created as the name for a UK mobile operator owned by Hong Kong’s Hutchison in the early 1990s, before it was acquired by France Telecom from Vodafone in 2000. Marketing experts see it as one of the successful brands in history, having established itself as the French group’s main brand for internet, mobile and TV services since 2006.