Press release
Paris, 22 July 2015
Orange enters into exclusive discussions with Ucom for the sale of Orange Armenia
The Orange Group has announced that it has entered into exclusive discussions with Ucom, an Armenian internet service provider, to sell 100% of its mobile subsidiary Orange Armenia.
As outlined in its Essentials2020 plan, the Group's focus is on providing customers with high-quality convergent services that combine the power of both mobile and fixed networks. In line with this approach, the Group has recently conducted several operations including the proposed merger of EE with BT in the UK and the acquisition of Jazztel in Spain.
Although significant progress has been made in recent years, both in terms of subscriber numbers and profitability, largely thanks to the efforts made by its staff, Orange Armenia does not have the necessary scale to carry out by itself the massive investments required to enable it to offer its customers convergent services.
The discussions with the internet service provider Ucom concern the sale of Orange Armenia, which would enable the creation of a strong Armenian player capable of offering its customers a broad range of fixed and mobile services.
Orange Armenia was established in 2009 after the Orange group acquired a mobile telecoms license. Orange has since deployed one of the country's most extensive 3G+ networks both in the capital Yerevan and in rural areas, and is the leader in mobile internet. Orange had 630,000 customers in Armenia at the end of 2014 and employs 500 people.
About Orange
Orange is one of the world's leading telecommunications operators with sales of 39 billion euros in 2014 and 155,000 employees worldwide at 31 March 2015, including 98,000 employees in France. Present in 29 countries, the Group has a total customer base of 247 million customers worldwide at 31 March 2015, including 188 million mobile customers and 16 million fixed broadband customers. Orange is also a leading provider of global IT and telecommunication services to multinational companies, under the brand Orange Business Services. In March 2015, the Group presented its new strategic plan "Essentials2020" which places customers' needs at the heart of its strategy with the aim of allowing them to benefit fully from the digital universe and the power of its new generation networks.
Orange is listed on Euronext Paris (symbol ORA) and on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol ORAN).
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Press contacts: +33 1 44 44 93 93
Tom Wright; tom.wright@orange.com
Olivier Emberger; olivier.emberger@orange.com
