Orange are definitely the most prosperous network at the moment with their excellent range of talk plans, superb value pay as you go packages and a superb range of phones. Today Orange is one of the major mobile phone operator and Internet services providers in UK. Orange launched commercially in April 1994. The enormity of the task facing Orange at launch is difficult to appreciate today, given the current popularity of mobile phones. In fact, it is one of the "Big 5" Companies of the UK mobile service provider that offers more than just voice services in both contract and pay as you go deals.

Back in 1994, the mobile phone UK market was a confusing place for customers. Digital networks had just been introduced, but few people understood the benefits. Complex tariffs and high prices made cellular phones only attractive to business customers. Users had to sign-up to a three-year contract, with high monthly rental fees, high call tariffs and with little flexibility over the type of services on offer. In April 1994, Orange entered the UK market as the last entrant in a field of four, with an ambitious aim: to become the first choice in wire free communications. Recently, Orange ran a huge campaign to advertise their new 3G services to enhance its data services and thereby providing its customers with the advantages, latest mobile technology has to offer. Today, that commitment remains the same. Orange is one of the world's strongest and most recognized brands. For over five years we have aimed to be the first for service, quality, innovation and choice.

By the end of 1995 the Orange customer base had more than doubled to 785,000, compared to 379,000 at the end of 1994. In 1996, Orange plc underwent its first initial public offering with the shares being listed on the London and NASDAQ markets on 2 April 1996 . At flotation in London , Orange plc shares were priced at 205 pence. Major shareholders at the time were Hutchison Whampoa with 48% and British Aerospace with 22%. With a valuation of £2.4 billion, Orange plc became the youngest company to enter the FTSE-100. In June 1999 Orange won the Nat West/Sunday Times Business Enterprise Award, which described Orange as "one of the outstanding business success stories of the past few years" and the Orange story as one of "courageous vision and commitment to the long-running potential of mobile telecoms".

Orange is consistently rated as one of the highest ranked mobile phone networks in terms of customer service and quality service. Customer service is fantastic, being extremely helpful and quick to deal with all your problems efficiently. Plus with services such as equity, wirefire etc Orange offer the most comprehensive mobile phone service available.It manages to combine a wide range of feature-packed mobile phones with a diverse set of price plans to create a mobile package to suit any customer. With the introduction of the Raccoon, Canary, Dolphin and Panther price plans, the Orange offering is now stronger than ever. For us, particular highlights of the Orange packages include free unlimited landline minutes on some packages, unlimited texts on others, plus unlimited calls to selected other Orange users with the 'Magic Number' scheme. These features alone make Orange one of the most competitive options available at the moment in the UK.

Business customers will be pleased to note that Orange now offers Blackberry functionality, allowing you to keep up-to-date on the move. A good range of handsets is now available, taking advantage of the well-established Orange GPRS/3G network.In addition, Orange offers free broadband with the majority of its mobile phone contracts, potentially saving the average household £20+ per month. In order to empower their customers, Orange finally have come up with their own series of Orange Mobile Phones that can fully utilize the wide array of services on offer be it network specific services like 3G or other mobile phone applications like PIM. Orange mobile phones are collectively known as Orange SPV range a line up of highly functional mobile devices designed keeping in mind the professionals who demand more than just basic voice functions.

All Orange mobile phones are generally smart phones with Windows Mobile as their operating system. This makes these handsets extremely useful to professionals and businessmen to continue doing their work while on the move. Orange's portal, dubbed Orange World, is attractively put together provides the expected news and information, entertainment and tools. It is divided into 3 broad areas - Info, Fun, and Tools, each of which is a top level link. Orange World has a fourth top level link which is Your Page. It is an area you can customize to give you the latest information from areas you are interested in, you can also add things such as a location aware weather forecast, cinema listings from your area and links to favorite sections of Orange World. This customization service is surprisingly useful, allowing you quick access to the areas you use most. The personalization is apparent throughout the portal, for example the last few train times are retained so you can quickly look up a train on the same route as before.

Some other distinctive features of Orange are:

Excellent signal coverage across the UK (including EDGE/3G), with one of the widest range of international roaming options from any UK network.
Free broadband offer with the majority of mobile contracts.
Reliable service with great coverage
Excellent 24h customer service
Wide range of products and services
Free broadband
Lots of exclusive phones

The current crop of Orange Mobile Phones are very popular among the high end mobile phone users in the UK. The Orange SPV E650, for example, works on the latest Windows Mobile 6.0 operating system, includes all high end connectivity options and tools possible, yet retain the 'normal' mobile phone looks. The handset even has a QWERTY keypad up its sleeve literally. Similarly, all other Orange mobile phones, be it the smallest of the lot Orange SPV M500 or the master communicator and highly functional PDA Orange SPV M3100 offers the best possible ratio of price and functions. All these coupled with a wide range of plans to custom fit your lifestyle makes each and every Orange mobile phone deal irresistible.

The Orange brand now operates in the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Romania, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Thailand, the Ivory Coast, the Dominican Republic, Cameroon, Botswana and Madagascar. The Orange group also has controlled operations in and a joint controlling interest in Egypt (MobiNil). The Orange group also has minority interests in Portugal (Optimus), Austria, (Connect Austria ), and Mumbai/India (BPL Mobile). Orange SA is one of the world's leading communications companies, well positioned for the future. To date, Orange group companies have been awarded next generation (UMTS) licenses in the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland and Slovakia.