The companies are to work together on sharing radio access networks in Europe, improving Wifi roaming for customers, refining M2M standards and developing next-generation services for the e-health, in-car entertainment, video and TV markets. Both telcos have said that co-operation is increasingly important in today’s telecoms industry, creating value for the parties involved as well as for the benefit of customers.
The first collaborative move by the two came in September 2009 when it was announced that UK customers of the Orange and T-Mobile networks were to be served by a joint venture, now known as the Everything Everywhere brand.
“With this latest collaboration, our two groups will address growth opportunities as well as operational efficiency issues in a targeted set of business domains for the benefits of our respective customers, while maintaining individual strategies,” said Elie Girard, EVP of strategy and development at France Telecom Orange.
