appointment launches next phase of growth in the Saudi market
Orange Business Services, the business services arm of France Telecom-Orange, has named Mr Laurent Marini as its Country Manager and General Delegate Arabia for Orange Business Services in Saudi Arabia. Marini will also serve as Managing Director of Orange Business Arabia (the local company established in Saudi Arabia by Orange Business Services) and as a Director of the board of Orange Business Arabia. He will lead the Orange commercial teams in Saudi Arabia, covering strategy to operations.
Marini brings more than 15 years of commercial leadership in the telecoms sector, including from senior positions in Saudi Arabia and Jordan for organisations including France Telecom, Lucent Technologies, Equant and Devoteam. He most recently held the position of Vice President Business Services at ITC in Saudi Arabia.
Laurent Marini graduated from the Institut National des Telecommunications (France) and holds a Master of Science degree in Telecommunications & Information Systems Engineering, a Masters in Marketing and Business Management from University Sud Paris (France), and completed executive leadership courses from Cranfield School of Management (UK) and EM Lyon Business School (France).
Part of France Telecom-Orange, Orange Business Services launched Orange Business Arabia, its local company in Saudi Arabia in April 2012, to focus on the key areas of Smart Cities, telecom operator transformation, and large infrastructure projects, in addition to serving the multinational companies that operate in the Kingdom. This was followed late last month with an announcement of a partnership agreement with Saudi Business Machines (SBM), a leading systems integrator. The agreement established a platform for the two companies to cooperate as preferred partners on bids for major ICT projects in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and to jointly identify and bid for major projects in the rapidly expanding ICT market there.
Commenting on the appointment, Mr Jean-Luc Lasnier, Vice President and General Manager, Middle East and Africa, Orange Business Services, said: "The first year of operation for Orange Business Arabia has been very encouraging and well received by customers. Laurent Marini will lead the next phase of our development as we continue to build our business ecosystem and drive growth in the market."
France Telecom-Orange has more than 2,000 people working on the business-to-business market in the Middle East and Africa. As part of the Group, Orange Business Services supports enterprise customers across the strategically important Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states from the Middle East and Africa regional headquarters in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
About Orange Business Services
Orange Business Services, the France Telecom-Orange branch dedicated to B2B services, is a leading global systems integrator and outsourcing programmes provider 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. Orange Business Services was awarded three of the telecom industry's highest accolades at the annual World Communication Awards (WCA) 2012 - Best Global Operator, Best Cloud Service and the User's Choice Award. Learn more at www.orange-business.com
About Orange
France Telecom-Orange is one of the world's leading telecommunications operators with annual sales of 43.5 billion euros and has 170,000 employees worldwide at Dec. 31, 2012, including 105,000 employees in France. Present in 32 countries, the Group has a total customer base close to 231 million customers at Dec. 31, 2012, including 172 million mobile customers and 15 million broadband internet (ADSL, fibre) customers worldwide. Orange is one of the main European operators for mobile and broadband internet services and, under the brand Orange Business Services, is one of the world leaders in providing telecommunication services to multinational companies.
With its industrial project, "conquests 2015", Orange is simultaneously addressing its employees, customers and shareholders, as well as the society in which the company operates, through a concrete set of action plans. These commitments are expressed through a new vision of human resources for employees; through the deployment of a network infrastructure upon which the Group will build its future growth; through the Group's ambition to offer a superior customer experience thanks in particular to improved quality of service; and through the acceleration of international development.
France Telecom (NYSE:FTE) is listed on NYSE Euronext Paris (compartment A) and on the New York Stock Exchange.
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Press Contacts: Jonathan Walsh, WPR (ME) Limited, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, jon@wprme.com, +971 50 4588610
© Press Release 2013
