Q1431486

Orange S.A., ( French: [ɔʁɑ̃ʒ] ; formerly known as France Télécom S.A., stylised as france télécom), is a French multinational telecommunications corporation founded in 1988 and headquartered in Issy-les-Moulineaux, near Paris.

Orange has been the corporation's main brand for mobile, landline, internet and Internet Protocol television (IPTV) services since 2006. It traces its origins back to Hutchison Whampoa acquiring a controlling stake in Microtel Communications in 1994 in the United Kingdom. Microtel Communications became a subsidiary of Mannesmann in 1999 and then was acquired by France Télécom in 2000. The former French public telecoms monopoly thus became internationalized following this takeover and has pursued an expansionist policy since. The group now operates in many countries in Europe, Africa and in the French West Indies. Since February 2012, as a result of the company's decision to transfer its fixed-line telephony operations to its Orange brand, all offers marketed by France Télécom are Orange-branded; and on July 1, 2013, France Télécom itself was rebranded Orange S.A.. In 2019, Orange S.A. employed nearly 148,000 people worldwide, including 88,000 in France.