UMTS frequency allocation traditionally comprises a paired band (FDD) and an unpaired band (TDD). Like nearly all UMTS operators, Orange has been allocated, depending on the country, a number of FDD frequencies and a block of TDD frequencies. To date, most UMTS deployments have focused on WCDMA utilizing the paired frequency bands. Orange's large-scale WCDMA deployment is ideally suited to provide efficient delivery of a variety of services including voice, SMS, supplementary services, videophone, and packet data transmission at data rates of 64/128Kbps and 64/384Kbps, higher with the planned FDD band evolution to HSDPA. TD-CDMA technology tests and market research from the trials with IPWireless will enable Orange to decide when and how to use its unpaired TDD frequency allocations.

The technical aspects of the trials on the French corporate market in Lille business area will enable Orange to assess the real time performance of TD-CDMA, and notably the coverage area, the capacity, the number of simultaneous users per carrier, and the coexistence of different networks (TDD and FDD).

The trial will enable Orange to test enterprise customers' response to very-high data rate services for complex enterprise applications, and gauge the immediate and near-term demand for such services. The results of the TD-CDMA trial, in tandem with the WCDMA commercial launch, will help Orange determine the various benefits and appropriate positioning for wireless technologies including GPRS, WLAN, WCDMA and TD-CDMA.

"We are pleased to partner with Orange to bring the first UMTS TDD deployment to France," said Chris Gilbert, chief executive officer, IPWireless. "Based on the positive reactions to our commercial deployments worldwide, we are confident that enterprise users in Lille will find tremendous value in Orange's new services."

About Orange
The Orange group is one of the world's largest mobile communications companies and a subsidiary of the France Telecom group, with operations in 16 countries across Europe and beyond. It provides a broad range of personal communications services, including Orange GSM1800 services and other digital cellular telephone services. Within the Orange Group, the Orange brand operates in the UK, France, Switzerland, Romania, Slovakia, Thailand, the Ivory Coast, the Dominican Republic, Cameroon, the Netherlands, Botswana, and Madagascar. The Orange group also has controlled operations in Belgium (Mobistar). The Orange group has a joint controlling interest in Egypt (MobiNil) and minority interests in Portugal (Optimus) and in Austria (One). As at the end of December 2004, Orange was the largest mobile operator in both the UK with over 14.2 million active customers, and France with over 21.24 million registered customers. As at the end of December 2004, Orange controlled companies had almost 54 million customers worldwide. Further information about Orange can be found on the Orange website at www.orange.com.