Orange Business Services wins 3-year global network services contract with Turkey-based manufacturing leader Kordsa Global

11-site IP network provides reliable access to business critical applications

PARIS & DUBAI, UAE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Orange Business Services, the France Telecom-Orange branch dedicated to B2B services, will provide global network services to support the business-critical applications and systems of Kordsa Global, connecting its headquarters and 10 production facilities in nine countries.

“In order to ensure business continuity and to support our business critical applications, Kordsa Global worked with the team at Orange Business Services over a period of time to determine and develop the optimum solution”

Employing 4,500 people, Kordsa Global is a world leader in nylon and polyester yarn, cord fabric and single end cord production serving the tire reinforcement and mechanical rubber markets.

A stable, reliable yet flexible global network infrastructure is business critical for Kordsa Global as it maintains its leadership position in a highly competitive industry. Under a 3-year contract, Kordsa Global will use Business VPN from Orange Business Services to provide network services to its Istanbul, Turkey headquarters and 10 locations in Argentina, Brazil, China, Egypt, Germany, Indonesia, Thailand, Turkey and the U.S. Orange Business Services is taking over the provisioning and management of Kordsa’s global IP network based on a new strategy for IT governance designed and established by Kordsa Global IT.

“In order to ensure business continuity and to support our business critical applications, Kordsa Global worked with the team at Orange Business Services over a period of time to determine and develop the optimum solution,” said Global IT Director Tekin Gülşen, Kordsa Global. “Together with the Orange team, we defined the technologies and designs that would best achieve our objectives in the long term. In addition to the solution itself, other supporting services such as proactive service support and project management to implement this highly complex solution were also critical for the success of the project.”

Orange Business Services maintains the world’s largest IP VPN with 317,000 IP VPN connections in 177 countries including high-growth markets. Global networking complexities are managed through ITIL^®-certified Orange Business Services staff, 24/7 troubleshooting, proactive monitoring, reporting, and project and service management options.

Philippe Koebel, senior vice president, Emerging Markets and Indirect, Orange Business Services, said: “We are delighted that Orange Business Services has achieved ‘trusted advisor’ status with Kordsa Global. Once the network is established, Kordsa Global will be able to roll out new services very quickly. A number of value-added services for their end users, such as Business Talk Global, will connect globally dispersed offices with on- and off-net voice, data and video.”

About Kordsa Global

As part of Sabanci Holding, one of Turkey’s largest conglomerates, and a world leader in nylon and polyester yarn, cord fabric and single end cord production, Kordsa Global serves the tire reinforcement and mechanical rubber markets. The success story behind Kordsa begins in 1973, when investment began at its cord fabric plant in Izmit, Turkey.

Over 37 years Kordsa Global has been transformed into a globally leading company thanks to strategic buy-outs and initiatives implemented with powerful business partners. The company maintains a leading position in the industry with a workforce reaching 4,500 at 10 facilities in 9 countries, spanning 5 continents. In 2010 Kordsa Global reached a sales figure of US$ 843 Million. Kordsa Global has its headquarters in Istanbul with operations focused in four main regions around the world: Europe, Middle-East and Africa with facilities in Turkey, Germany and Egypt; North America with facilities in Laurel Hill, North Carolina, USA and Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA; South America with facilities in Brazil and Argentina; and Asia Pacific with facilities in China, Indonesia and Thailand. Learn more at www.kordsaglobal.com.

About Orange Business Services

Orange Business Services, the France Telecom-Orange branch dedicated to B2B services, is a leading global integrator of communications solutions for multinational corporations. With the world's largest, seamless network for voice and data, Orange Business Services reaches 220 countries and territories with local support in 166. Offering a comprehensive package of communication services covering cloud computing, enterprise mobility, M2M, security, unified communications, videoconferencing, and broadband, Orange Business Services delivers a best-in-class customer experience across a global landscape. Thousands of enterprise customers and 1.4 million mobile data users rely on an Orange Business Services international platform for communicating and conducting business. Orange Business Services is a four-time winner of Best Global Operator at the World Communication Awards. Learn more at www.orange-business.com.

France Telecom-Orange is one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators with sales of 45.3 billion euros for 2011 and has 170,000 employees worldwide at June 30, 2012. Orange is the Group's single brand for Internet, television and mobile services in the majority of countries where the company operates. France Telecom (NYSE:FTE) is listed on Euronext Paris (compartment A) and on the New York Stock Exchange.

Orange and any other Orange product or service names included in this material are trade marks of Orange Brand Services Limited, Orange France or France Telecom.