Orange S. Orange has been the corporation's main brand for mobile , landline , internet and Internet Protocol television IPTV services since It traces its origins back to Hutchison Whampoa acquiring a controlling stake in Microtel Communications in in the United Kingdom. The former French public telecoms monopoly thus became internationalized following this takeover and has pursued an expansionist policy since. In , Orange S. The corporation has throughout the years expanded its activities to include content sales music, cinema, downloads, etc.
In , under the French Revolution , the first communication network was developed to enable the rapid transmission of information in a warring and unsafe country. That was the optical telegraphy network of Claude Chappe.
In , after the invention of the electrical telegraph and then the invention of the telephone , the French State created a Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs. Telephone services were nationalised and added to the ministry in In , a General Direction of Telecommunications was created within this ministry. In the s, France attempted to make up for its delay in developing communications infrastructure, compared to other countries, by launching the programme "Delta LP" increasing the main lines.
In , Telecom introduced Minitel online ordering for its customers. It became autonomous in This was in response to a European directive, aimed at making competition mandatory in public services from 1 January Since then, the company has had a separate body corporate from the State and acquired financial autonomy.
In addition, the French government has a role in naming the CEO. In , the capital of the new public company was successfully floated whereas the dot-com bubble phenomenon made the stock exchanges bullish.
