Editing Orange Group (section)

=== NeXT scheme and rebranding to Orange (2006–present) ===
[[File:France Télécom.svg|thumb|upright=1.0|right|Logo of France Télécom from 2006 until 2013.]]

The NeXT scheme was the recovery plan for France Télécom which aimed at, among other things, reducing costs, especially wage costs, carrying on a converging policy for its products and services, and grouping together all the brands under a single brand, except for the activities dealing with fixed-line telephone which would stay under the designation 'France Télécom'. Consequently, this led to the disappearance of a number of brands.

From 1 June 2006, France Télécom tried to commercialise all its products under a single worldwide brand, becoming the sole brand of the France Telecom group for Internet, television and mobile services in the majority of countries in which Orange operated. [[Orange Business Services]] became the brand for all its business services offerings worldwide, replacing the Equant brand. In June 2007, Orange and [[Mid Europa Partners]] acquired Austrian mobile network company One, re-branding it as [[Orange Austria]]. In 2012, it was sold to [[Hutchison 3G]] and the Orange Austria brand was terminated.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mideuropa.com/media/news/2012/mid-europa-announces-agreement-for-the-sale-of-orange-austria-to-hutchison-3g-austria/|title=Mid Europa Announces Agreement for The Sale of Orange Austria to Hutchison 3G Austria|date=3 February 2012|access-date=7 August 2013|archive-date=7 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170707095958/http://www.mideuropa.com/media/news/2012/mid-europa-announces-agreement-for-the-sale-of-orange-austria-to-hutchison-3g-austria/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In November 2008, Orange launched five Orange Cinema Series channels. To do so, Orange bought the exclusive rights from [[Warner Bros.]]<ref name="Orange achete les droits de Warner Bros., Gaumont et HBO" /> for first runs of all new films, previously held by [[TPS Star]] (a subsidiary of the [[Canal+ Group]]), as well as all films in its catalogue and rights to the film catalogues of [[Gaumont Film Company|Gaumont]], [[HBO]]<ref name="Orange achète les droits de HBO"/> and [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer|MGM]].<ref name="Orange achete les droits de MGM"/> Orange also secured exclusive rights to broadcast Saturday evening [[Ligue 1]] football matches from the [[French Football Federation]].<ref name="Orange a les droits de la ligue 1 sur le match du samedi soir"/> [[Free (ISP)|Free]] accused Orange of tied-selling as the Orange channels were only available to its subscribers.<ref name="SFR et Free portent plainte contre Orange"/> In June 2008, the firm abandoned a €27&nbsp;billion bid for Swedish operator [[TeliaSonera]] after the two companies failed to agree terms.<ref>{{cite news|last=Gow|first=David|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/jul/01/telecomindustry|title=TeliaSonera: France Télécom hangs up on Swedish operator|newspaper=The Guardian|date=1 July 2008|access-date=9 April 2009}}</ref>

In 2008, Orange was given permission from [[Apple Inc.|Apple]] to sell the [[iPhone]] in Austria, Belgium, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Jordan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Switzerland and Orange's African markets.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.francetelecom.com/en_EN/press/press_releases/cp080516uk.html|title=Orange brings iPhone to customers in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East|publisher=Orange
|date=16 May 2008|access-date=20 May 2006}}</ref> On 8 September 2009, Orange and [[T-Mobile International AG|T-Mobile]] parent [[Deutsche Telekom]] announced they were in advanced talks to merge their UK operations to create the largest mobile operator with 37% of the market. Both T-Mobile and Orange brands were kept due to differences in their targeted markets. T-Mobile remained the budget-conscious offering and Orange the premium one, although there was some overlap as of February 2011.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8243226.stm|title=T-Mobile and Orange in UK merger|work=BBC News|date=8 September 2009 |access-date=2 May 2010}}</ref>

On 5 April 2009, Orange won an Arbitration Court case against Orascom Telecom, forcing Orascom to transfer its stake in Mobinil to Orange at a price of {{EGP|441,658}} per Mobinil share.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.orange.com/en_EN/press/press_releases/cp090405en.html|title=Orange.com|access-date=6 December 2014|archive-date=10 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170710151108/https://www.orange.com/fr/accueil|url-status=dead}}</ref> On 28 October 2009, Orange changed the name of its Luxembourgish telecommunication company VOXMobile to Orange.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tijd.be/nieuws/ondernemingen_media_telecom/VOX_(Mobistar)_wordt_Orange_.8247906-435.art|title=De Tijd, 20 October 2009}}</ref> On 5 November 2009, [[Orange Armenia]] launched telecommunication services in [[Armenia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.orangearmenia.am/en/about-orange-armenia/index.php|title=Orange Armenia Official Website|access-date=6 December 2014|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304102437/http://orangearmenia.am/en/about-orange-armenia/index.php|url-status=dead}}</ref> On 11 December 2009, Egypt's regulator approved an offer from a unit of France Telecom (Orange) to buy Mobinil.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Sharp |first1=Alastair |last2=El Dahan |first2=Maha |date=2009-12-10 |title=Egypt regulator OKs France Tel bid for Mobinil |language=en |work=[[Reuters]] |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/francetelecom-mobinil-idUSGEE5B92JZ20091210 |access-date=2023-01-01}}</ref> In 2010, Orange's CEO, Didier Lombard, was replaced by Stéphane Richard.<ref name="Stéphane Richard replace Didier Lombard" /> The company was also reorganised internally, most notably with the arrival of former Culture Minister Christine Albanel as head of communications for the group.<ref name="Christine Albanel rejoint Orange" /> In mid-April 2010, Orange UK announced that it would outsource the management of its broadband network to BT. This announcement was greeted positively by broadband commentators, who felt that the move was likely to improve Orange's broadband quality and customer services.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.choose.co.uk/news/orange-broadband-outsource-to-bt.html|title=Orange's successful broadband outsourcing |publisher=Choose.co.uk|date=21 October 2011|access-date=29 April 2013}}</ref>

On 2 March 2012, [[Didier Lombard]], who remained special advisor to [[Stéphane Richard]], left the company.<ref name="Stephane Richarge quitte Orange" /> His departure was shadowed by controversy over his stock options: he was suspected of having stayed with the company longer to wait for the France Telecom share to recover and then exercise his stock option. The share was trading at around €16, whereas his stock options were at €23.<ref name="Détails départ de Stephane Richard" /> On 3 February 2012, [[Hutchison Whampoa]] announced that it would buy [[Orange Austria]] for US$1.7&nbsp;billion.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16866032 |title=Hutchison to buy Orange Austria as it seeks expansion|publisher=BBC News|date=2 March 2012|access-date=31 August 2013}}</ref> The deal closed on 3 January 2013,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hutchison-orange-austria-idUSBRE9020BR20130103 |title=Hutchison Whampoa closes acquisition of Orange Austria |work=Reuters |date=3 January 2013 |access-date=31 August 2013 |first=Michael |last=Shields}}</ref> and the Orange brand was phased out on 19 August 2013, when its operations were merged into 3.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-austria-telecoms-hutchison-idUSBRE97I0AJ20130819 |title=Hutchison keeps rock-bottom tariff after Orange Austria buy|work=Reuters|date=19 August 2013|access-date=31 August 2013|first=Georgina|last=Prodhan}}</ref> In March 2012, France Télécom bought 93.9% of [[Mobinil]], an Egyptian mobile operator, from [[Naguib Sawiris]]'s Orascom Telecom Media and Technology (OTMT) in an effort to double its revenue in MENA by 2015.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://english.nuqudy.com/North_Africa/France_Telecom_Buys-1989|title=France Telecom Buys Egypt's Mobinil|publisher=Nuqudy|date=29 May 2012|access-date=31 August 2013|archive-date=14 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131114151743/http://english.nuqudy.com/North_Africa/France_Telecom_Buys-1989|url-status=usurped}}</ref> On 28 May 2013 at the Annual Shareholders' Meeting, shareholders approved changing the name of the group to Orange S.A. This became effective on 1 July 2013.<ref name="Name change">{{cite web|url=http://www.orange.com/en/press/press-releases/press-releases-2013/France-Telecom-to-become-Orange-on-1-July-2013|title=France Telecom to become Orange on 1 July 2013|publisher=Orange|date=28 May 2013|access-date=14 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924061425/http://www.orange.com/en/press/press-releases/press-releases-2013/France-Telecom-to-become-Orange-on-1|archive-date=24 September 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> In September 2014, Orange agreed a deal to acquire [[Spain|Spanish]] firm [[Jazztel]] for a fee of around €3.4&nbsp;billion.<ref>{{cite press release|work=Reuters|date=15 September 2014|title=Orange strikes 3.4 billion euro deal to buy Spain's Jazztel|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-orange-jazztel-idUSKBN0HA1SM20140915}}</ref>

As of October 2018, Orange has teamed up with [[Google]] in order to install a [[Transatlantic communications cable|transatlantic]] undersea cable, [[Dunant (submarine communications cable)|Dunant]], to share data between the [[United States]] and [[France]] at faster speeds. Planned to begin operation in 2020, the fibre-based cable has a design capacity of 250 terabits per second (Tbit/s) and will span approximately 6600 [[kilometers|kilometres]] in length.<ref>{{cite web|title=Google and Orange building cable between US and France |website=[[TheGuardian.com]]|date=15 October 2018|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/oct/15/google-orange-building-cable-between-us-france}}</ref>

In July 2020, Orange launched a satellite-based home broadband service utilising the [[Eutelsat Konnect|Eutelsat Konnect satellite]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Orange partners with Eutelsat to provide broadband via satellite throughout France|url=https://www.orange.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2020/orange-partners-eutelsat-provide-broadband-satellite-throughout-france|access-date=18 March 2021|website=orange.com}}</ref>