It is fair to say that the France Telecom acquisition of Orange has turned the company from the soaring eagle of mobile network operators into a dodo of same.

Orange, some will recall, was once the top UK mobile network operator in terms of customer service and satisfaction. They set the bar for all other networks to follow, and that is whilst they were under the ownership of HWL (current owners of Three). If nothing had changed they would have remained head and shoulders above the other UK operators. Yet within a few years under France Telecom's ownership they have become an emaciated shadow of their former selves. Their tariffs are over prices and uncompetitive, it is a wonder that they attract any new business, saved only by the average UK customer's general ignorance of the competing possibilities here. Also a big dose of misplaced company loyalty for reasons that only the psychologists of 500 years in the future will be able to fathom out.

Personally, I would rather go without than hold an Orange contract or PAYG ever again.


The UK's telecoms tough-nut Ofcom has published the latest figures for customer complaints about mobile networks. And this time Orange gets the wooden spoon for making its customers madder than most.

The watchdog, which cracks the whip of regulatory discipline over UK telcos, found Orange garnered the most gripes between October and December last year, with 0.17 complaints per 1,000 customers -- up from 0.07 in Ofcom's previous survey.

The rocketing rate of complaints can be explained by Orange announcing increased monthly price plans for all customers, including those tied into existing contracts. Yep, taking more money away from people will do that, as Chancellor George Osborne is currently realising -- thanks to his new "granny tax".

The second most moaned about mobile service was Three, which harvested 0.15 complaints per 1,000 customers. Ofcom said complaints about Three continue to be driven by disputed charges and customer service gripes.

T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Vodafone were all tied in third place, with 0.07 complaints per 1,000 customers.

As in all previous quarters, the least complained about mobile provider over Ofcom's survey period was O2 -- with a neatly matching 0.02 complaints per 1,000 customers.

Source: http://crave.cnet.co.uk/mobiles/oran...work-50007412/