The Chief Executive of France Telecom, parent company of mobile operator Orange, has spoken out about the company’s plans.

Stephane Richard has said that France Telecom has no current plans for a large merger or a large acquisition. However, the company is still eyeing up the market for possible smaller acquisitions that will help to increase the revenue of France Telecom. This will not affect dividends though, Richard has said.

Stephane Richard has also commented on a possible partnership between France Telecom’s Orange Cinema channel and Canal Plus SA, saying that the two are currently holding talks.

Mobile phone operator Orange is to launch a new Telepresence Community solution that will be aimed at its business mobile customers.

In partnership with Cisco, Orange Business Services customers will be offered access to Cisco’s popular video conferencing network. Once this project completes its trial stage, it will be offered free to Business Services customers until March 2011.

According to Orange, the new Telepresence Community solution will allow business customers to access around 800 video conferencing locations.

Ed Vaizey, the government’s new Communications Minister, has announced that he will outline plans for a UK spectrum auction just before parliament’s summer recess in late July. According to Vaizey, the government has been talking to mobile operators and regulators in order to gain as much information as possible before outlining the spectrum plans.

According to Steve Blythe, the Director of Spectrum Strategy for Orange mobile, the earliest that the 2600 and 800 MHz spectrum auction could take place would be the end of summer in 2011. Let us just hope that this spectrum auction is more of a success than the last one!

Orange, the popular mobile phone provider, has launched a new HD mobile voice trial as it considers rolling out HD mobile voice nationwide by the end of summer 2010.

The trial will run between Southampton, Bristol and Reading on the Orange network. According to Orange spokespeople, the trial will use Nokia mobiles that are HD-enabled.

Orange has said in the past that it would have eight HD-voice mobiles in its portfolio by the first half of 2010. However, we have yet to see this and despite the trial, it doesn’t look as if we’ll be seeing an influx of HD voice mobiles any time soon from Orange.

Orange, the popular mobile phone operator, has provided an endorsement for GPS tracking, after apparently conducting research into lone workers such as postmen and guards.

Orange has said that according to its research, almost 40% of lone workers have a positive feeling about their employers tracking them via their mobile phones – so that should they go missing or have an accident, someone will know.

Well, I’m not too sure where Orange has been looking, but the majority of people that I know would have a huge problem if their bosses could track them at any time.

Orange, the popular mobile phone operator, has announced its new security features, especially for business customers who need secure business mobiles. The new security solutions are the result of Orange mobile partnering with two encryption specialists – Becrypt and Barron McCann, network security specialists.

Orange, along with the two security companies, will be improving the managed VPN (virtual private network) that Orange offers. Orange will also be offering its business customers USIMs on a 3G/3G+ wireless internet network, which creates a secure and authorised network for business mobiles.

Orange, the mobile phone operator, has launched Orange Money in Madagascar, in partnership with the post office Paositra Malagasy (PAOMA) and with Banque Malgache de l’Ocean Indien (BMOI). Orange has also introduced Orange Money to Senegal and Mali in the past few months.

Orange Money allows users to withdraw, transfer and deposit money as well as buy mobile phone credit and pay for purchases and bills. Orange Money can be used free of charge and works in conjunction with local banks. And in places like Madagascar, where getting to the bank may be a long trip, mobile banking may prove to be invaluable. Orange Money – what a good idea!

After a lot of speculation from the public and from telecoms firms, Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom, the parent companies of mobile operators T-Mobile and Orange, have announced the new name for their joint venture. Everything Everywhere™.

By combining their companies, the two companies have become the mobile market leader in the UK and obviously, the new brand name is meant to convey that…Although it seems more likely that the marketing team ran out of ideas and coined the first term that encompassed everything, everywhere. Nevermind though, both companies will still operate under the Orange and T-Mobile brands…so it was pointless them even coming up with a name really!

Mobile phone operator Orange has updated its BlackBerry business mobile tariffs in order to try to appeal to businesses more. The BlackBerry mobile phone from RIM is the favoured mobile of business users which is why it has been chosen for updated tariffs.

Orange has said that although some prices on the tariff may have risen slightly, it offers an improved service for businesses of all sizes. Orange has now included access to the BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) Express for a set monthly price but access to BlackBerry internet has risen slightly. Still, with mobile workers becoming more common place, we need dedicated tariffs and deals that offer a reliable service.

Orange, the mobile phone operator that last month merged with T-Mobile, is once again looking into offering TV services via broadband connections. Orange has recently moved its fixed line service over to BT as the calls and lines company has a more widespread coverage of the UK and a more stable network.

So for Orange, the plan for a broadband TV service is back online – albeit, three years after it initially thought up the plan! No launch has been mentioned yet, but as Sky, BT and Virgin have a huge head start, I doubt that it will be long till Orange throws itself into the fray!