Orange To Resolve London Connection Issues By Nov

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Orange, the mobile telecommunications arm of France Telecom SA, Monday said its U.K. customers won't be able to call some newly issued London fixed-line telephone numbers until a network issue is resolved by November.

Orange users can't call some of the recently created 0203 prefix numbers as the Orange U.K. network doesn't recognize the telephone number. Other mobile networks, including Vodafone Group PLC and T-Mobile International AG, are connecting to the 0203 numbers.

An Orange spokesman told Dow Jones Newswires that its users can't call about 40% of the new 0203 numbers. He said this is because BT Group PLC, which provides the mobile networks with information on fixed-line numbers, only provided the details of the affected numbers last week.

He said that Orange only inputs new numbers into its network twice a month and the issue will be resolved by November.

BT wasn't immediately available for comment.

Company Web site: Http://www.orange.com

-By Nic Fildes, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-20-7842-9264; nicolas.fildes@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires"

Posted to the site on 17th October 2005