Orange Forms World's First Mobile and Internet Partnership With the Wikimedia Foundation

Paris and San Francisco (ots/PRNewswire) -

- This partnership, the first of its kind, will expand the reach
of Wikimedia content through co-branded channels on Orange's mobile
and web portals

- The two partners will work together to develop new services and
features around content from Wikipedia, the flagship project of the
Wikimedia Foundation.

Orange and the Wikimedia Foundation today announced a
wide-ranging strategic partnership designed to mutually benefit each
organization's users by extending the way people can access free
knowledge.

Orange, the European telco leader in internet audience ranking,
with 55 million unique visitors per month*, will initially provide
customers in France, the UK, Spain and Poland with quick and simple
access to co-branded content from the Wikimedia Foundation, the
non-profit organization behind the web encyclopedia Wikipedia.
Partnership activities include:

- creating specific Wikipedia channels on Orange mobile and web
portals

- enriching sections of the Orange web and mobile portals with
links to relevant Wikipedia information

- developing mobile and web-based widgets which enable customers
to access Wikipedia content directly from their Orange mobile or web
homepage

Phase two of the agreement will see the two organisations
cooperate to create a range of simple but innovative new services
drawing on Orange's skills as a total communications provider across
mobile, internet and television. In addition, the partnership will be
rolled out across the rest of Orange's European footprint.

Commenting on the agreement, Paul-François Fournier, Executive
Vice President, Audience Line of Business, Orange, said: "At Orange
we are committed to giving people maximum access to the widest range
of digital technologies and to simplifying the way people use these
technologies to access information. By bringing our customers a new
way to access content from Wikipedia, one of the world's most
recognised and popular internet brands, we are delivering on this
commitment."

"The Wikimedia Foundation is dedicated to spreading knowledge to
as many people as possible, in as many ways as possible," said Sue
Gardner, Executive Director of the Wikimedia Foundation. "Orange's
leadership in mobile and focus on innovation makes them an ideal
partner to help us extend our reach. The Foundation welcomes
partnerships that help us carry out our mission and that respect the
valuable contributions of the Wikimedia community."

This partnership is part of Orange's strategy to provide the most
popular and compelling content to its customers and will increase the
reach of Wikimedia services, particularly in the European mobile
market and at a time when mobile internet usage is soaring. Through
this partnership Orange is also supporting the Wikimedia Foundation's
core mission of enhancing and expanding the reach of Wikipedia and
other collaborative knowledge projects to new users.

Learn more about the Orange Wikimedia partnership on video at
http://www.orange-innovation.tv/wikimedia.

*55 million unique visitors per month - comScore, February 2009

About Orange

http://www.orange.com/en_EN/group/

About the Wikimedia Foundation

The Wikimedia Foundation is the non-profit organization which
operates Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. According to comScore
Media Metrix, Wikipedia and the other projects operated by the
Wikimedia Foundation receive more than 300 million unique visitors
per month, making them the 4th most popular web property world-wide.
Available in more than 265 languages, Wikipedia contains more than 12
million articles contributed by a global volunteer community of more
than 100,000 people. Based in San Francisco, California, the
Wikimedia Foundation is an audited, 501(c)(3) charity that is funded
primarily through donations and grants.

http://www.wikimediafoundation.org

ots Originaltext: Orange and the Wikimedia Foundation
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Contact:
Press Contacts: Orange, US - Carolyn Owen, +1-818-245-2652,
carolyn.owen@orange-ftgroup.com; France - Heloise Rothenbuhler,
+33-1-44-44-93-93, heloise.rothenbuhler@orange-ftgroup.com; Wikimedia
Foundation, Jay Walsh, Head of Communications, Wikimedia Foundation,
+1-415-839-6885, ext 609, jwalsh@wikimedia.org; Matt Stewart, Solid
Ground PR, +1-408-679-3729, matthew.stewart@solidgroundus.com