Apple’s iPhone 5 will launch on Orange in Europe on October 15th according to comments from the CEO of the carrier’s parent company, France Telecom. FT chief executive Stéphane Richard, who has openly discussed Apple’s plans for the iPhone ahead of announcement in the past, told the French press that the iPhone 5 will launch on Orange in mid-October, TechRadar reports. “If we believe what we have been told, the iPhone 5 will be released on 15 October,” the CEO said without elaborating. Apple’s iPhone 5 has previously been rumored to be set for an October 7th release, which may still be the case in some markets. Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 5 alongside an updated iPhone 4 model at a press event later this month or early in October.

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After eight months of waiting, Deutsche Telkom and France Telecom have merged their UK operations to form Britain’s largest communications company, now know as Everything Everywhere. The 50:50 joint venture will merge the corporate operations and network resources of Orange UK and T-Mobile UK to create an umbrella company that will continue to operate the two distinctive brands. Combining the best of both Orange and T-Mobile UK, the newly merged Everything Everywhere now boasts: 713 retail stores, 16,000 employees, and a customer base of 30 million — which exceeds that of rival O2. Hit the jump for the full press release.

ORANGE AND T-MOBILE UNVEIL JOINT VENTURE NAME, TEAM, VISION AND PLANS

Companies outline vision to give customers instant access to everything, everywhere

• Everything Everywhere: One company, running two of Britain’s most famous brands – Orange and T-Mobile
• Best for customers: Scale of new company allows delivery of best value, best choice, best coverage and best quality in the industry
• Biggest Network: Plans for a single super-network that will give bigger and better coverage for customers, with a smaller impact on the environment
• Benefits begin this year: Roaming across both networks due later this year, at no additional cost to the customer
• Boost for Sales: Biggest operator retail presence on the high street with over 700 stores today
• Brilliant Service: Focus on quality, to ensure customers receive the very best service, helping people discover more from their mobile
• Acceleration in new markets: New assault on business market, continued leadership in wholesale, and focus on new revenue streams
• One Team: New Leadership Team announced to take the company forward

London. 11 May 2010. Britain’s biggest communications company was unveiled today, promising to transform the industry and give UK consumers the best coverage, devices, service and communications experience possible.

The company – called Everything Everywhere – will run two of Britain’s most famous brands, Orange and T-Mobile, and has a customer base of 30 million people: over half of the UK adult population.

Orange and T-Mobile will continue as leading brands in the market, with each brand having its own shops, marketing campaigns, propositions and service centres. However, behind the scenes, the two brands will be run by one company, with one team and one vision to give consumers instant access to the people, places and things they want, wherever they are.

Everything Everywhere is the name of the company that runs Orange and T-Mobile, and the company that all 16,500 employees will work for. The company will be officially integrated on July 1.

Tom Alexander, Chief Executive of Everything Everywhere, said: “Together, we are Britain’s biggest communications company, with over 30 million customers.

“We are on the verge of a communications revolution. Up until a few years ago, mobile was just about voice and text – not now. Multimedia phones have already started to change the way our customers access the world – for entertainment, education, information – wherever they are, whenever they want.

“That is why, through our scale and Britain’s only super-network with its unsurpassed coverage and capacity, we will be leading this revolution, giving customers instant access to everything, everywhere.

“We are Everything Everywhere – it’s our name, our vision, and our ambition – and we run two of the UK’s biggest brands Orange and T-Mobile. It’s our vision to give our customers instant access to everything everywhere, opening up a world of endless possibilities.”

FURTHER INFORMATION

The brands
Everything Everywhere will give the two trading brands of Orange and T-Mobile a shared platform of strength, with each brand owning clear emotional territory in terms of propositions, marketing and brand identity.

To customers, Orange and T-Mobile will continue to compete as distinct brands in the market, each having its own shops, campaigns, propositions and service centres.

Best network
Everything Everywhere is creating the country’s biggest and best mobile network. The ambition is to combine both the Orange and T-Mobile networks, cut out duplication, and create a single super-network.

For customers it will mean bigger network and better coverage, while reducing the number of stations and sites – which is good for cost reduction as well as being good for the environment.

Later this year, customers will experience the first benefits of the merger, with the ability to roam across both networks at no additional cost.

Boost for sales
Together Orange and T-Mobile have over 700 stores on the British high street today. The company is now looking at continuing to improve and evolve its estate to generate more sales and cement its position as the UK’s number one communications company.

Brilliant service
It is an ambition of Everything Everywhere to deliver the best service in the industry to the company’s 30 million customers across both brands.

The company intends to do that by offering an excellent level of service, with the best-trained and motivated people helping customers.

Acceleration in new markets
The company intends to propel itself beyond mobile communications, with a greater focus in developing new revenue streams based on the way customers will use their devices in the future.

With greater scale, the company intends to develop new revenue streams in adjacent markets, such as mobile advertising and mobile commerce.

With the company’s new coverage and scale, it also intends to ramp up offers to the business market, with the best propositions and value for businesses across Britain.

One Team
There is a new Leadership Team for Everything Everywhere, with key personnel from both Orange and T-Mobile running key areas of the enlarged business.

The team is led by Tom Alexander, Chief Executive, and Richard Moat, Chief Financial Officer and Deputy Chief Executive.

Joining them in the Leadership Team, are:

Andrew Ralston, Chief Commercial Officer
Guillaume van Gaver, Vice President of Marketing
Mark Duncan, Vice President of Sales & Loyalty
Andrew Coull, Vice President of Retail
Pippa Dunn, Vice President of Orange Propositions
Lysa Hardy, Vice President of T-Mobile Propositions
Gerry McQuade, Chief Development Officer
Marc Overton, Vice President of Wholesale
Martin Stiven, Vice President of Business
Bruno Duarte, Vice President of Home
Russel Taylor, Vice President of Business Development and Online
Neal Milsom, Vice President of Finance
Emin Gurdenli, Vice President of Network
Fotis Karonis, Vice President of IT
Jackie O’Leary, Vice President of Customer Operations
Rui Pereira, Vice President of the Programme Management Office
John Cromack, Vice President of Purchasing
Linda Kennedy, Chief Change Officer
Ian Pitcher, Vice President of People Operation
Nicolas Ott, Vice President of Strategy, Planning and Regulatory
Steven Day, Vice President of Brands and Communications
James Blendis, Vice President of Legal
Ben Messore, Vice President of Strategy

Our pals across the pond are going to be facing some changes in the coming months as Deutsch Telekom and France Telecom are planning a massive merger in the UK. The companies are reportedly preparing to combine T-Mobile UK and Orange to form what will become the largest telco on the island, assuming the joint venture is approved by antitrust regulators. The deal is expected to be inked toward the end of October, giving the parties involved plenty of time to iron out details in the interim. The bright side for consumers, we suppose, is expanded network coverage — the downside of course being the fact that the two carriers will no longer be competing for business. So, what do our UK friends think?

Thanks, Roger A!

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France Telecom is not in a good place right now. Imagine the time, negotiations and bags of money resources it took to score iPhone 3G exclusivity on Orange for a five-year term all to see things evaporate thanks to the scrappy Bouygues Telecom. Appealing to the Competition Council, Bouygues contested that this exclusivity agreement seriously undermined competition in the mobile space due to the excessive length of the agreement. Despite obvious opposition from both France Telecom and Apple, the Competition Council concurred and decided in December to cap such exclusive agreements at a substantially abbreviated three months. Body blow! Needless to say, FT and Apple went right to work fighting the decision but an appeals court ruled today that the decision would be upheld. Upper cut! Apple and FT plan to take their appeal to Cour de Cassation, France’s Supreme Court, while Apple slyly plays both sides by undertaking negotiations with Bouygues to offer the iPhone 3G on its network. T.K.O. Apple stands to benefit either way of course and as such, the company appears to be fairly brazen in its handling of the situation. FT on the other hand, has everything to lose – including a healthy portion of its customer base on Orange. Bouygues, currently the number three operator in the French region, would undoubtedly couple iPhone availability with some incredibly attractive rates to lure customers away. Hmm. We have to wonder what AT&T’s 2008 would have looked like with the iPhone on multiple US carriers…

[Via AppleInsider]

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