WebProNews

Tag: Orange

  • EU Telcos: ‘There Would Be No Netflix, Google Without Us’

    EU Telcos: ‘There Would Be No Netflix, Google Without Us’

    The battle over who will pay for EU infrastructure upgrades is heating up, with the telcos saying Big Tech owes them.

    The EU is looking to the future and trying to determine how critical network infrastructure will be funded. One of the leading proposals involves charging Big Tech companies, especially those responsible for the bulk of traffic, to help fund the upgrades. Needless to say, such a proposal is not popular with the tech industry.

    In a statement to CNBC, however, Michael Trabbia, chief technology and innovation officer for France’s Orange, makes the case that Big Tech companies wouldn’t enjoy the success they do without the telecom operators.

    “Without the telcos, without the network, there is no Netflix, there is no Google,” said Trabbia.

    Similarly, Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Hoettges asked why Big Tech couldn’t “at least a little bit, contribute to the efforts and the infrastructure which we are building here in Europe.”

    The proposal is just the latest challenge Big Tech is facing amid growing antitrust scrutiny, privacy, and security concerns.

  • Netflix Said To Be Shooting For Fall Launch In France

    We’ve been hearing for months that Netflix has been working on trying to get launches going in France and Germany. Now, it’s looking like at least one of those will become a reality later this year.

    Variety is reporting that Orange CEO Stephane Richard said he thinks Netflix wants to launch in France in the fall. He had appeared on the radio last week and said as much, but noted that Orange hadn’t signed anything yet.

    Netflix isn’t commenting.

    Late last year, reports indicated that the company had been in talks with officials in both France and Germany, seeking information on laws that could affect its operations. In January, a Netflix Marketing & PR Management job posting was spotted, which called for the candidate to speak and write English, but noting that “Dutch, the Nordic languages, German and French are a plus.”

    The Wall Street Journal later reported that Netflix was in discussions with American entertainment companies about “licensing the rights to popular Hollywood content in France and Germany, among other European countries.”

    According to that report, Netflix had started talks with the French government specifically about a possible launch.

    CEO Reed Hastings hinted at a European expansion in the company’s earnings discussion in January, but didn’t get into specifics.

    Netflix has already launched in the Nordics, the UK and Ireland, and most recently in the Netherlands in September.

    Beyond expanding the availability of Netflix itself, more markets potentially means more region-specific original content.

    Image via YouTube

  • Wikimedia & Orange To Provide Free Wikipedia Access In Africa, Middle East

    Jimmy Wales isn’t messing around when it comes to stressing the point that, yes, everybody should have free and available access to information.

    In a press release this afternoon, the Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit organization that operates Wikipedia, announced that they will be partnering with Orange, of France Telecom, in order to make Wikipedia more easily available to Orange mobile customers throughout Africa and the Middle East. Hailed as the “first partnership of its kind” – that being the world’s first mobile and Internet partnership – the two companies will provide more than 70 million Orange customers with mobile access to Wikipedia without incurring any data usage charges.

    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 encyclopedia services for as many times as they like at no extra charge as long as they stay within Wikipedia’s pages.

    Sue Gardner, Executive Director of the Wikimedia Foundation, said, “”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.” She continued, “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 endeavor.”

    Orange posted a video on their website extolling the value of a freely accessibly Wikipedia to their customers that is now viewable on their website.

    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 encyclopedia. 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.”

    The timing to announce the merger one day ahead of the the one-year anniversary of Egypt’s January 25th Revolution (although it continues to go on even today), which could be considered the first domino to fall in the Arab Spring’s chain of protests throughout the past year, is peculiar. It may be unintentional, but I’d like to think that this reaffirms Wikimedia and Wales’ commitment to providing a worldwide network of free information whenever someone needs it.

  • OpenX Launches New Ad Platform, Secures Groupon As Customer

    Assuming it didn’t already, OpenX should definitely have Google’s attention now.  The company launched an updated version of its OpenX Enterprise ad technology today, and in the process, announced that it’s secured Groupon and Orange (the telecommunications entity) as customers.

    An OpenX spokesperson explained in an email to WebProNews, "OpenX’s new platform, the company’s Software as a Service ad serving product for large publishers, is already being adopted by leading companies including Orange-France Telecom Group in Europe, Groupon in the United States and Excite in Japan."

    That’s quite significant, considering that Google recently tried to buy Groupon.  Also, Orange used to have a deal with DoubleClick, a subsidiary of the search giant.

    The OpenX spokesperson then continued, "The platform becomes available today and will allow publishers to maximize revenue more efficiently and effectively in the increasingly sophisticated ad landscape.  By optimizing all ad revenue channels in real-time and in one place, we think this new platform represents breakthrough technology for the online advertising industry."

    It should be interesting to see what happens next.  All sorts of companies might be willing or eager to follow Groupon’s lead.  If they don’t encounter any problems, a second wave of firms might give OpenX’s ad tech a shot, as well.

    Again, it’s hard to imagine Google isn’t paying close attention to all of this.

  • MySpace Partners With Orange In France

    In Europe, Orange is an almost omnipresent organization – the third-biggest mobile operator and the second-biggest broadband Internet provider, according to its own stats.  And so it seems MySpace has made an interesting compromise by entering into an advertising and content partnership with Orange in France today.

    MySpace appears to be both giving up control and putting itself in good hands.  An official statement explained, "On the advertising side, Orange Advertising Network – Europe’s largest ad network . . . . will manage all aspects of MySpace advertising, liaising directly with clients and agencies."

    The statement then continued, "[T]he two partners are also bringing together their extensive and complementary portal and social network expertise to offer the most extensive range of music content for young internet users."  But note: "Orange will be in charge of managing synergies between the two sites and coordinating their content."

    Finally, Orange is even supposed to get an exclusive French license for MySpace’s trademarks and logos.

    This is a bold arrangement, and it should be interesting to see how it works out.  Or rather, it should be interesting to see if things go well, because then there will be pressure for MySpace to hand over the reins in countries other than France.

    For the record, the terms of the deal were not disclosed.