Orange TV will cover more than 98% of French households from July 3rd as part of its triple play offer

PARIS — As part of the deployment by France Telecom (Euronext Paris: FTE) of the Orange triple play offer (telephone, Internet, TV), 24 million French households (98.3% of the mainland population) will be able to enjoy Orange TV from July 3rd. Agreements recently signed with Eutelsat have made it possible extend the Orange TV offer. Up until now, broadband TV technology only enabled half of France’s households to benefit from the offer. Thanks to this combined ADSL-satellite technology, Orange TV programmes will be available to virtually all French households.

At the MIPTV 2008 event in Cannes, Orange confirmed the selection of two orbital positions for Eutelsat HOT BIRD™ and ATLANTIC BIRD™3 (broadcasting from 13° East and 5° West) to handle the satellite broadcasting of the TV flow reception of its triple play offer (telephone, internet and TV), where this is not accessible via ADSL. Globecast, a subsidiary of the group, will handle the encoding, encrypting and transmission of the Orange TV channels.

As of July 3rd, nearly all French households will be able to subscribe to an Orange triple play offer (from €29.90 a month). Depending on where they live, customers will be equipped with either Orange TV via ADSL or via an installation combining ADSL and satellite reception. As of 23 May 2008, the orange internet site www.orange.fr will provide information on the practical aspects of Orange TV access and determine eligibility.

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