PARIS -- Orange is launching a new service to provide swift, simple, and cost effective mobile access to Facebook for an even wider range of customers.

Facebook via USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) allows all Orange customers to access the service, regardless of the phone that they are using. Even users with older or very basic handsets without an internet connection or data plan will be able to stay in touch with their family and friends on Facebook through a simple and affordable text-based service.

USSD is a technology used by all GSM mobile devices to send information across a 2G network, and is already used widely in Africa for services such account information and callback services. As USSD is familiar in the region, and as there is no barrier in terms of handset requirements, Orange expects that over one million customers will use the service in the first year.

Orange launched this service at the end of 2011 for Mobinil customers in Egypt, and over 350,000 customers have connected Facebook via USSD in the first month. Today Orange is announcing the launch of the service in Orange Côte d'Ivoire this month, and that further markets in Orange’s African footprint will launch throughout 2012.

This new service forms part of Orange’s strategy to help customers get more from their digital lives and provide access to mobile services such as Facebook to the widest possible range of customers. This is the latest in a series of services designed to open up access to digital services in emerging markets such Google SMS chat and email via SMS, and the exclusive Alcatel One Touch range of phones with deep Facebook integration.

Orange France