Wanadoowas theInternet service providerdivision ofOrange S.A.It operated inFrance,Spain,theUnited Kingdom,Belgium,theNetherlands,Morocco,Tunisia,Algeria,Senegal,Mauritius,Madagascar,LebanonandJordan.It ceased to operate as a worldwide brand on 1 June 2006, when it was rebranded as Orange.
 | |
| Industry | ISP provider |
|---|---|
| Fate | Rebranded to Orange on 1 June 2006 |
| Owner | Orange S.A. |
| Website | www.orange.fr |
The origin of the name Wanadoo is subject to some controversy, as some maintain it came about in the late 1990s when many internet companies chose to compete by creating "Yahoo!"-sounding names. However, it might be that the name Wanadoo first appeared in an internal project at France Télécom,[1]much in line with a number of other such projects such asFrance Animationuntil 2003, Intranoo, Tatoo, Netatoo and @noo.
Wanadoo was floated on the stock market on 18 July 2000. In 2000, Wanadoo also took over the major British ISPFreeserve,which had previously been part of theDixons Group.Following the buy-out, Freeserve maintained its own branding for a while before finally changing to the Wanadoo name on 28 April 2004.[2]
In the early 2000 Wanadoo expanded into the games industry by purchasingIndex+.Wanadoo integrated Index+ into its new games division,Wanadoo Edition.On 30 September 2003,[3]Wanadoo Edition was integrated intoMC2 Franceand from this deal Wanadoo also became a 12% shareholder ofMicroïds.
Orange rebranding
editWanadoo changed toOrangeon 1 June 2006 to simplify branding by France Télécom: this merging of companies has created a single brand offering mobile telecommunications and internet services.[citation needed]
References
edit- ^France Télécom says: Based on the expression "I wanna do", this original and interesting name shows us enthusiasm and liberty.
- ^Schofield, Jack(23 March 2017)."Freeserve, Wanadoo and Orange email addresses are no more. Where next?".The Guardian.
- ^Adventuregamers.com,Microids takes over Wanadoo's games division
External links
edit- Wanadoo(in French)(Archive)