London/Paris, Tuesday, September 1, 2015

• App-based partnership connects Globe to new customer base around the world.
• First operator to operator partnership to use Orange’s all-in-one communications app, Libon.

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Orange taps into demand for affordable international voice

Orange today announces the formation of a partnership with Globe Telecom to launch a new international voice call offer that will connect Filipino communities living and working around the world, with friends and family back home in the Philippines. The new offer, available through the Libon app, facilitates high-quality, reliable and competitively priced international voice calls to mobiles and landlines alike.

The partnership leverages Orange’s expertise and technical know-how to deliver crystal-clear call quality and highly competitive pricing for international voice calls, utilising its wholesale division, International Carriers. The partnership will facilitate calls from over 140 countries worldwide and provide Globe with a potential new customer base of over two million* Filipinos living abroad. The partnership also capitalises on the growing popularity for Orange’s all-in-one communications app, Libon, for iPhone and Android that provides free unlimited Libon to Libon HD calls, chats and personalised visual voicemail. Libon’s popularity has been growing, in particular, among communities living away from their home countries, whose preference is to speak to their friends and family on the phone, rather than messaging.

The ‘Philippines with Globe’ offer, purchased in-app, provides 1,000 minutes of calls for US$25.99 to call Globe and TM in the Philippines (from around the world). At US$0.026 per minute, the offer is 67% cheaper than any other app-to-Globe Telecom rates for international calls on the market. Additionally, customers registering to the Libon app between 26 August and 9 September, 2015 will also receive 100 minutes of free calls to Globe and TM. More details are available from Libon website .

The service provides great flexibility allowing customers to reach friends and family, not just on smartphones, but feature phones and landlines as well, with no requirement for the recipient to have the Libon app, unlike other solutions on the market. [

Libon continues to support customers to stay connected

The new offer follows on the heels of other new voice-focused services from Libon, such as ‘Reach Me’ which allows customers to receive and place calls, using their mobile number when on Wi-Fi. Reach Me guarantees reliable, high-quality voice calls when out of range of the mobile network, for example when at home or in the office and was launched in the UK and Italy in 2015.

Dominic Lobo, Head of Libon, Orange, said: “This partnership builds on the quietly growing popularity of the Libon app and responds to a clear and discernible demand for high-quality and reliable voice services that offer flexibility to call who you want, regardless of handset.”

Anne Morel, Vice President Global Carrier Sales, International Carriers, Orange, continued: “Orange’s ability to marry its innovative solutions such as Libon with our credentials as a one of the world’s leading wholesale providers, places us in a strong position to form partnerships such as we have done with Globe Telecom.” The launch comes ahead of the Asian Carriers Conference (ACC) in Cebu, Philippines in which Orange IC will be present and is platinum sponsor.

• According to the Philippines Statistics Authority there were 2.3 million Overseas Filipino Workers during the period April-September 2015.