ORANGE ARMENIA STARTS OPERATING IN ARMENIA

Noyan Tapan
Nov 5, 2009

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 5, NOYAN TAPAN. France Telecom company (the Orange
brand) started operating in Armenia on November 5. In our country,
France Telecom will be represented by Orange Armenia company. As
President of France Telecom Didier Lombard stated at a press conference
held on the same day, Orange is the third European operator intending
to become a leader in Armenia.

"We consider the opening of a new office in each country as a birth,
and I am excited," D. Lombard said, adding that Armenia had been
chosen because of special relations between France and Armenia: the
Armenian community in France is large, which has played a great role
in Orange’s establishment in Armenia. "Armenia is the 31st country to
be provided Orange services. The company is among the world’s top 10
operators and boasts 189 million customers. We will live a long and
splendid life in this country," D. Lombard declared.

Presenting the advantages of Orange, its Vice President Olaf Swantee
stressed that the company will be notable for its innovations. Orange
has 18 laboratories worldwide, whose new technologies regularly become
accessible to subscribers. "We promise to transform the communication
market of Armenia and to become a favorite company," he stated.

Director General of Orange Armenian Bruno Dutois announced that the
company has already made investments of 90 million USD. It currenly
has 300 employees, but 15 thousand people have submitted applications.

In his words, they will offer services based on innovative solutions,
high speed Internet, and quite flexible and competitive prices. France
Telecom has the largest 3G+ network in Armenia. Starting from this
week, 13 service centers of the company will function.

B. Dutois said at this moment they promise accessible Internet
and mobile phone communication for 83% of Armenia’s territory –
500 villages and cities. He announced that as of November 4, 70,000
subscribers were already registered.

Marketing Director of Orange Aram Mkrtchian said the prepayment
tariffs of mobile communication will be divided into 4 tariff plans,
each having a specific direction depending on the preferences and
age of subscribers. In particular, there will be tariff plans for
certain hours of the day or certain days of the week in order to
provide lower tariffs. Depending on a tariff plan, the per-minute
tariff will be 5-40 drams, the sms tariff – 5-15 drams.

Until December 31, the first minute of the first call made each day
will be free of charge. Orange Armenia will give some surprises:
in particular, new subscribers of the company will receive as a gift
the opportunity to speak 300 minutes free within the network.

By subscribing for "Every Month" tariff plan, subscribers will be able
to purchase phones at quite low prices. The company will offer "Orange
World" service, starting from December – also Internet television
services. From November, Orange Armenia will provide roaming services,
for which no prepayment is required.