Egypt - Cairo Orange Laboratory

Creation of an Orange Lab in Egypt: memorandum of understanding signed with the Egyptian authorities

On December 4, 2007, Tarek Kamel, the Egyptian Communications and Information Minister and Didier Lombard, the France Telecom Group's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, were guests of honor at the ceremony to sign the memorandum of understanding, officially recognizing the creation of the new Orange Lab, which will be launched on January 3, 2008 in Cairo.

The creation of the Cairo Orange Lab will allow the France Telecom Group to expand its presence in Egypt, a country where France Telecom is already present since 1998 through Mobinil and Orange Business Servicers. France Télécom is the main shareholder of Mobinil, which is the first mobile operator in Egypt with 14 million customers. Orange Business Services, dedicated to communication services to multinational companies has 1500 engineers in Cairo and is serving approximately 150 multinational companies, as well as around 50 airlines. With the new Cairo Orange Lab, the Group has now 18 Orange Labs around the world.

The work carried out by Orange Lab Cairo will make it possible to further enhance the Group's range of innovative services, creating synergies with the local ecosystem and the global Orange Labs network. The main research and development work will focus on the following subjects:

* Development of global solutions for the Group
* Ergonomics for products and services on the multinational business market and the local retail market
* Voice services and content access in Arabic
* Financial services for the region's countries
* Research into local uses
* Network solutions set against specific economic and environmental constraints

In terms of the workforce, the Cairo Orange Lab will be made up of 50 members of staff, with over 90% Egyptians.
In order to integrate this new Orange Lab into the local ecosystem, the laboratories have been set up to the west of Cairo, in the "Smart Village" technology hub, which is home to various companies from the IT and telecoms sector as well as various public organizations (Telecommunications Ministry, National Telecommunications Institute, etc.).