PARIS—A French newspaper reported European mobile operator Orange is interested in launching a branded service in the United States and is currently in talks with a U.S. operator. Orange has denied the reports.
The report said Cingular is currently the most likely partner after talks with VoiceStream Wireless Corp. broke down. Cingular is in the middle of deploying GSM on its network, which would be compatible with Orange’s network technology in Europe.
While a deal with Cingular may make sense for Orange, Cingular’s current spectrum position would seem to preclude it from sharing any spectrum with a possible MVNO.
Sprint PCS has already signed an MVNO agreement with Virgin Mobile, which is expected to launch service this summer.
