RNS Number:3875F
Orange S.A.
19 December 2002



                   Orange SA announces plans to withdraw from

                                 Swedish market



London/Malmo. December 19 2002. Orange SA today announced its intention to
withdraw from the Swedish market in direct response to the pressures placed upon
it by the UMTS licence requirements and current market conditions.



In line with this, Orange Sverige will today significantly reduce the size of
its operation with a redundancy programme affecting its remaining 234 staff. All
positions affected will be dealt with in accordance with Swedish legislation and
negotiations with the trade union representatives have begun. Employees will
receive the company's full support during this period.



Orange will continue to explore all options to secure the future of its Swedish
operation.



For more information please contact the Orange Media Centre

Denise Lewis, Group Director of Corporate Affairs

+44 207 984 2000

Niamh Byrne, Group Head of Media Relations

+44  2079841995






For further information:

Orange and wirefree are trademarks of Orange PCS. The Orange group is one of the
world's largest mobile communications companies, with a presence in 21 countries
across Europe and beyond. It provides a broad range of personal communications
services, including Orange GSM1800 services and other digital cellular telephone
services. The Orange brand operates in the UK, France, Switzerland, Romania,
Denmark, Slovakia, Thailand, the Ivory Coast, the Dominican Republic and the
Cameroon. The Orange group also has controlled operations in Belgium (Mobistar),
the Netherlands (Dutchtone), Botswana (Vista Cellular) and Madagascar (SMM) and
intends to launch Orange UMTS operations in Luxembourg. The Orange group has a
joint controlling interest in Egypt (MobiNil) and minority interests in Italy
(Wind), Portugal (Optimus), Austria (Connect Austria) and Mumbai/India (BPL
Mobile).



As at the end of September 2002, Orange was the largest mobile operator in both
the UK with 13.1 million active customers, and France with 18.8 million
customers. Orange has 43.2 million controlled customers worldwide.  Further
information about Orange can be found on the Orange website at www.orange.com



For more information please call the Orange media centre on +44 207 984 2000 or
+44 7973 201 911










                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END

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