FT, TDC to Merge Units

RENENS, Switzerland, ZURICH, PARIS, and COPENHAGEN -- France Telecom and TDC announce today that they have reached an agreement to combine their respective Swiss subsidiaries, Orange Communication S.A. (“Orange Switzerland”) and Sunrise Communications S.A. (“Sunrise”). The combined entity will create the leading nationwide alternative provider of telecommunications services in Switzerland.

France Telecom will pay at closing a net amount of €1.5 billion to TDC and, as a result of a series of steps, become a 75% shareholder in the combined entity, and TDC will hold the remaining 25%.

With approximately 3.4 million mobile and 1.1 million fixed and broadband customers , the combined entity will account for around 38% of the mobile telephony market and 13% of the fixed broadband connections . For 2008, the combined entity would have generated total pro-forma revenues of CHF 3.1 billion (€2.0 billion) and EBITDA of CHF 809 million (€534 million). As a full-service nationwide fixed and mobile operator, it will broaden the scope of services offered through more than 100 shops throughout Switzerland, bringing the best of both companies’ offers to a larger number of customers.

Gervais Pellissier, France Telecom Deputy CEO and CFO, said: “The planned merger of Sunrise and Orange Switzerland marks a new significant step in the long-term investment by France Telecom-Orange in Switzerland. Following the UK joint venture between Orange and T-Mobile, France Telecom completes another major in-market consolidation, consistent with its M&A policy.”

Orange (NYSE: FTE)

TDC A/S (Copenhagen: TDC)