Formation: 1990–1994 The inception of the Orange brand occurred in 1990 in the United Kingdom with the formation of
Microtel Communications, The team that launched Orange in the UK was led by Malcolm Way, and later
Hans Snook who became the chief executive. A
holding company structure was adopted in 1995 with the establishment of Orange plc. In April 1996, Orange went public and floated on the
London Stock Exchange and
NASDAQ,
Acquisition of Orange and part of France Télécom: 1999–2009 The stint as a public company came to an end in October 1999, when it was acquired for US$33 billion by the German conglomerate
Mannesmann AG. The company was initially 100% owned by France Télécom (although there were and remain minority investors in some of the national operating companies). In 2001 15% was sold in an
IPO, but in 2003 the outstanding shares were bought back by France Télécom.
Merger with T-Mobile UK: 2009–2015 On 8 September 2009,
France Télécom and
T-Mobile parent
Deutsche Telekom announced they were in advanced talks to merge their UK operations to create the largest mobile operator, which would have 37% of the market. The Orange brand was to be retained for the first eighteen months at least.
Consumer Focus and the
Communications Consumer Panel sent a joint letter to the then Competition Commissioner
Neelie Kroes in December 2009, asking for the merger to be investigated by authorities in the United Kingdom, rather than
Brussels. The British
Office of Fair Trading joined this call by asking the EU to allow it to investigate the proposed deal in February 2010, saying that it believed the merger could have a 'significant' effect on competition. On 1 March 2010, the European Commission approved the merger, on condition that the combined company sell 25% of the spectrum it owned on the 1,800 MHz radio band, and amend a network sharing agreement with smaller rival
3. On 1 April 2010, Deutsche Telekom and France Télécom completed the merger of their UK operations, causing Orange UK and T-Mobile UK to cease to exist, although the brands were to be maintained until 2015 for new customers, and 2019 for existing customers. On 11 May 2010, it was announced that both the Orange and T-Mobile brands would remain on British high streets, although their new merged parent company would be called
EE. The
Orange Home UK broadband service was rebranded as EE Broadband on 30 October 2010.
Phase-out of brand: 2015-2019 In February 2015, Orange UK's parent company EE announced that Orange (along with T-Mobile) tariffs were withdrawn for new customers. Existing customers wishing to upgrade had to choose an EE price plan. Starting in July 2015, Orange pay-as-you-go customers also had the ability to dial premium rate and directory enquiries numbers withdrawn. Those who needed to call such services were advised to transfer to an EE plan. Remaining Orange customers were informed in early 2019 that they had to switch to an EE plan by March, or their services would be terminated. This marked the end of Orange service in the United Kingdom. ==Services==