PARIS, France, January 24, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ – In
the first partnership of its kind, Orange and the Wikimedia Foundation
will provide more than 70 million Orange customers in Africa and the
Middle East (AMEA) with mobile access to Wikipedia – without incurring
data usage charges.
Orange (http://www.orange.com) and the Wikimedia Foundation today
announced a major partnership designed to make knowledge more easily
available to Orange mobile customers throughout Africa and the Middle
East. In the first partnership of its kind for Wikipedia, Orange and
the Wikimedia Foundation will provide customers in both remote and
urban areas of AMEA with access to Wikipedia.
In 2009, Orange and the Wikimedia Foundation formed the world’s first
mobile and Internet partnership to expand the reach of Wikimedia’s
projects through channels on Orange mobile and web portals in Europe.
This new partnership will be gradually launched throughout 2012 across
20 African and Middle Eastern countries where Orange operates, with
the first markets launching early in the year. The initiative is part
of the Wikimedia Foundation’s mobile strategy that aims to reach the
billions of people around the world who access the internet solely
through mobile devices.
Any customer with an Orange SIM and mobile internet enabled phone will
be able to access the Wikipedia site either through their browser or
an Orange widget. They can access the Wikipedia encyclopaedia services
for as many times as they like at no extra charge as long as they stay
within Wikipedia’s pages.
“Wikipedia is an important service, a public good — and so we want
people to be able to access it for free, regardless of what device
they’re using,” said Sue Gardner, Executive Director of the Wikimedia
Foundation. “This partnership with Orange will enable millions of
people to read Wikipedia, who previously couldn’t. We’re thrilled to
be Orange’s partner in this important endeavour.”
Marc Rennard, Group Executive Vice President of Orange, Africa, the
Middle-East and Asia, commented, “In countries where access to
information is not always readily available, we are making it simple
and easy for our customers to use the world’s most comprehensive
online encyclopaedia. It is the first partnership of this kind in the
world where we are enabling customers to access Wikipedia without
incurring any data charges; and shows Orange’s ability, once again, to
innovate in Africa and the Middle East, and bring more value to our
customers.”
Stephanie Hospital, Executive Vice President, Orange Audience &
Advertising division, commented, “Since we first partnered with the
Wikimedia Foundation two years ago, we have remained committed to
helping them spread knowledge to as many people in the world as
possible. We’re proud to once again be the Wikimedia Foundation’s
first partner in Africa and the Middle East.”
Distributed by the African Press Organization for Orange.