Orange and the Wikimedia Foundation Partner to offer Wikipedia in Africa and the Middle East at no Extra Cost

Paris (ots/PRNewswire) -

- In the first partnership of its kind, Orange and the 
Wikimedia Foundation
          will provide more than 70 million Orange customers in 
Africa and the Middle East
          (AMEA) with mobile access to Wikipedia - without incurring 
data usage charges

Orange and the Wikimedia Foundation today announced a major
partnership designed to make knowledge more easily available to
Orange mobile customers throughout Africa and the Middle East. In the
first partnership of its kind for Wikipedia, Orange and the Wikimedia
Foundation will provide customers in both remote and urban areas of
AMEA with access to Wikipedia.

In 2009, Orange and the Wikimedia Foundation formed the world's
first mobile and Internet partnership to expand the reach of
Wikimedia's projects through channels on Orange mobile and web
portals in Europe.

This new partnership will be gradually launched throughout 2012
across 20 African and Middle Eastern countries where Orange operates,
with the first markets launching early in the year. The initiative is
part of the Wikimedia Foundation's mobile strategy that aims to reach
the billions of people around the world who access the internet
solely through mobile devices.

Any customer with an Orange SIM and mobile internet enabled phone
will be able to access the Wikipedia site either through their
browser or an Orange widget. They can access the Wikipedia
encyclopaedia services for as many times as they like at no extra
charge as long as they stay within Wikipedia's pages.

"Wikipedia is an important service, a public good -- and so we
want people to be able to access it for free, regardless of what
device they're using," said Sue Gardner, Executive Director of the
Wikimedia Foundation. "This partnership with Orange will enable
millions of people to read Wikipedia, who previously couldn't. We're
thrilled to be Orange's partner in this important endeavour."

Marc Rennard, Group Executive Vice President, Africa, Middle-East
and Asia at Orange, commented: "In countries where access to
information is not always readily available, we are making it simple
and easy for our customers to use the world's most comprehensive
online encyclopaedia. It is the first partnership of this kind in the
world where we are enabling customers to access Wikipedia without
incurring any data charges; and shows Orange's ability, once again,
to innovate in Africa and the Middle East, and bring more value to
our customers."

Stephanie Hospital, Executive Vice President, Orange Audience &
Advertising division, commented: "Since we first partnered with the
Wikimedia Foundation two years ago, we have remained committed to
helping them spread knowledge to as many people in the world as
possible. We're proud to once again be the Wikimedia Foundation's
first partner in Africa and the Middle East."

About Orange

France Telecom is listed on Euronext Paris and on the New York
Stock Exchange.

For more information (on the internet and on your mobile):
http://www.orange.com, http://www.orange-business.com,
http://www.orange-innovation.tv

Orange and any other Orange product or service names included in
this material are trademarks of Orange Brand Services Limited, Orange
France or France Telecom.

About the Wikimedia Foundation

http://wikimediafoundation.org

http://blog.wikimedia.org

The Wikimedia Foundation is the non-profit organization that
operates Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. According to comScore
Media Metrix, Wikipedia and the other projects operated by the
Wikimedia Foundation receive more than 470 million unique visitors
per month, making them the fifth-most popular web property world-wide
(comScore, November 2011). Available in more than 280 languages,
Wikipedia contains more than 20 million articles contributed by a
global volunteer community of more than 100,000 people. Based in San
Francisco, California, the Wikimedia Foundation is an audited,
501(c)(3) charity that is funded primarily through donations and
grants.

Rückfragehinweis:
Press Contacts: Orange: US/UK - Vanessa Clarke / Jeff Sharpe,
+44-7891-056-593 / +44-7887-620-901, [email protected] /
[email protected]

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