Orange Launches Converged Mobile - Fixed-line Phone

PARIS -(Dow Jones)- France Telecom unit Orange unveiled a new telephone Monday which combines fixed-line and mobile phone applications along with the low cost of an Internet connection.

The product, which already been launched by French rivals Iliad and Neuf Cegetel, allows a person -while at home -to make free phone calls inside of France over their Internet connection.

Once the person leaves the house, the phone switches over to the mobile phone network.

"This creates one bill, one phone, one answering machine, one number," said Sanjiv Ahuja, the Chief Executive of Orange at a press conference in Paris Monday.

Dubbed Unik, the product is the latest converged service aimed at retaining customers by offering a basket of services at lower rates.

So far Deutsche Telecom, BT Group and Telecom Italia have all offered a similar types of telephones.

"This helps us stabilize the churn, especially in countries like France," France Telecom Chief Executive Didier Lombard said.

France Telecom customers will pay EUR10 per month for fixed-line calls within France, in addition to EUR99 and more for the phone itself and charges for Livebox, a system which connects users to broadband lines.

For EUR22 per month customers can get unlimited calls to both Orange mobiles and fixed lines.

The phone will be available in France from October 6 and launched in the Netherlands, U.K., Spain and Poland thereafter.

Though Unik can be cheaper for Orange customers, people who call a Unik line will be charged for a mobile phone call, rather for a fixed- line call.

Calling a mobile phone is generally more expensive and the adoption of mobile phone rates for converged phones has elicited concern from some consumer groups.

Lombard also said that France Telecom was preparing to launch high- definition television services over mobile phones some time in November. He declined to comment further on the project, simply calling the announcement Monday a "teaser".

-By Nina Sovich, Dow Jones Newswires; + 33 1 40 17 17 55, nina.sovich@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires"

Posted to the site on 25th September 2006