Orange opens a new Technocentre in Côte d'Ivoire to boost its sub-Saharan activities
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Paris, November 09, 2010 
Orange today announced its plans to open a new Technocentre in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. The announcement comes at a time when the France Telecom-Orange Group is aiming to accelerate growth in emerging countries, and in particular in sub-Saharan Africa. The new facility will provide a centre of expertise that is able to rapidly develop and launch new products and services specifically designed to meet regional needs.
The announced was made by Jean-Paul Cottet, Executive Vice President in charge of Marketing and Innovation, and Marc Rennard, Executive Vice President in charge of operations in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, speaking during a press conference held in Paris on the Group's capacity for innovation in Africa and the Middle East.
"By providing a regional platform, this new Technocentre will reinforce the Group's capacity to develop innovative new products and services specifically designed to meet the needs of sub-Saharan Africa," said Marc Rennard. "Markets in this region are characterized by strong growth and specific needs that require a whole new approach to mobile services. In addition to traditional voice communication, there is a strong demand for new services that provide access to financial services or local content for example. By drawing on local knowledge and expertise, the new Technocentre will enable us to develop innovative new offers in these areas that will create value both for our customers and the economy as a whole."
The Technocentre, which will open in Abidjan by the end of 2010, will join the Group's network of 15 Orange Labs worldwide and will reinforce the existing research and development facilities in Africa and the Middle East. These include another Technocentre site in Amman (Jordan), and an Orange Lab in Cairo (Egypt), as well as various skill centres and customer test centres across Africa. By opening such a facility in the Côte d'Ivoire, Orange is seeking to draw on local knowledge in order to understand needs, and reduce the time taken to adapt innovative, new products for each market.
"Mobile services are playing key role in the socio-economic environment of sub-Saharan Africa," said Jean-Paul Cottet. "Working in close collaboration with the global Orange Labs network and by providing regional savoir-faire, the new Technocentre in Abidjan is set to become a launch-pad for new services and dedicated multimedia offers for the Group's operations across the region."
The new facility will specialize in particular in multimedia services for mobile networks, such as SMS, USSD (basic data services via a GSM network), Wap or web-based services. It will also work on solutions designed to facilitate access to the internet for Africans everywhere. This means improving network accessibility but it also means developing inclusive content-based services. Finally, the Abidjan facility will provide support for countries in the region as the roll-out of Orange Money accelerates over the coming months. Orange Money is the Group's mobile payment service and is a key part of the strategy to improve customer fidelity in Africa. The service has been launched in Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal, Mali, Madagascar, Niger and Kenya, and has already attracted one million customers.
a global innovation network
The France Telecom-Orange group's worldwide innovation structure is built around a network of 15 Orange Labs, which bring together 3,500 employees in every continent. The Orange Labs are the focal point of the Group's strategy to offer its customers innovative services that make their lives simpler and better. They are based on two separate structures:
- R&D labs. The labs, which are located in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, Asia and North America, are the main source of innovation for the Group, registering around 350 patents every year. By being physically present in specific markets, they are able to draw on local resources to identify new trends, technologies and build partnerships.
- Technocentre. The Technocentre includes four sites located in Paris, London, Amman and soon in Abidjan. The Technocentre is the Group's "product and design factory", which aims to meet customer expectations in the best possible way. Its role is to develop and deliver the right products at the right time for the maximum number of countries in which the Group is present. For each product family, the Technocentre brings together teams from marketing, research and network engineering. This "three partners" or 3P approach enables the Group to simultaneously address every stage of the development cycle from the initial concept to the development and marketing of new products.
The announced was made by Jean-Paul Cottet, Executive Vice President in charge of Marketing and Innovation, and Marc Rennard, Executive Vice President in charge of operations in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, speaking during a press conference held in Paris on the Group's capacity for innovation in Africa and the Middle East.
"By providing a regional platform, this new Technocentre will reinforce the Group's capacity to develop innovative new products and services specifically designed to meet the needs of sub-Saharan Africa," said Marc Rennard. "Markets in this region are characterized by strong growth and specific needs that require a whole new approach to mobile services. In addition to traditional voice communication, there is a strong demand for new services that provide access to financial services or local content for example. By drawing on local knowledge and expertise, the new Technocentre will enable us to develop innovative new offers in these areas that will create value both for our customers and the economy as a whole."
The Technocentre, which will open in Abidjan by the end of 2010, will join the Group's network of 15 Orange Labs worldwide and will reinforce the existing research and development facilities in Africa and the Middle East. These include another Technocentre site in Amman (Jordan), and an Orange Lab in Cairo (Egypt), as well as various skill centres and customer test centres across Africa. By opening such a facility in the Côte d'Ivoire, Orange is seeking to draw on local knowledge in order to understand needs, and reduce the time taken to adapt innovative, new products for each market.
"Mobile services are playing key role in the socio-economic environment of sub-Saharan Africa," said Jean-Paul Cottet. "Working in close collaboration with the global Orange Labs network and by providing regional savoir-faire, the new Technocentre in Abidjan is set to become a launch-pad for new services and dedicated multimedia offers for the Group's operations across the region."
The new facility will specialize in particular in multimedia services for mobile networks, such as SMS, USSD (basic data services via a GSM network), Wap or web-based services. It will also work on solutions designed to facilitate access to the internet for Africans everywhere. This means improving network accessibility but it also means developing inclusive content-based services. Finally, the Abidjan facility will provide support for countries in the region as the roll-out of Orange Money accelerates over the coming months. Orange Money is the Group's mobile payment service and is a key part of the strategy to improve customer fidelity in Africa. The service has been launched in Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal, Mali, Madagascar, Niger and Kenya, and has already attracted one million customers.
a global innovation network
The France Telecom-Orange group's worldwide innovation structure is built around a network of 15 Orange Labs, which bring together 3,500 employees in every continent. The Orange Labs are the focal point of the Group's strategy to offer its customers innovative services that make their lives simpler and better. They are based on two separate structures:
- R&D labs. The labs, which are located in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, Asia and North America, are the main source of innovation for the Group, registering around 350 patents every year. By being physically present in specific markets, they are able to draw on local resources to identify new trends, technologies and build partnerships.
- Technocentre. The Technocentre includes four sites located in Paris, London, Amman and soon in Abidjan. The Technocentre is the Group's "product and design factory", which aims to meet customer expectations in the best possible way. Its role is to develop and deliver the right products at the right time for the maximum number of countries in which the Group is present. For each product family, the Technocentre brings together teams from marketing, research and network engineering. This "three partners" or 3P approach enables the Group to simultaneously address every stage of the development cycle from the initial concept to the development and marketing of new products.
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Sébastien Audra, sebastien.audra@orange-ftgroup.com
Tom Wright, tom.wright@orange-ftgroup.com
Sébastien Audra, sebastien.audra@orange-ftgroup.com
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