Orange, T-Mobile become 'Everything, Everywhere'

LONDON, UK: The merged UK arms of Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom will be called "Everything, Everywhere", and will allow 30 million customers to roam across the T-Mobile and Orange networks later this year.

Both brands, which individually trail O2 and Vodafone, will be retained, chief executive Tom Alexander said after unveiling the new name on Tuesday.

"Together, we are Britain's biggest communications company, with over 30 million customers," he told reporters.

Alexander said both brands had different personalities, with Orange having a "premium element", whereas T-Mobile had a "straightforward, value-orientated appeal".

The German and French companies said in November the 50:50 joint venture would give them a market share of about 37 per cent in Britain, putting them ahead of current market leaders O2, owned by Spain's Telefonica, and Vodafone.

The combined group will have more than 700 shops, and Alexander said they were planning more.

He reiterated that the merger would result in synergy savings of 3.5 billion pounds, or 4 billion euros, and there would be job cuts in back-office functions, but did not specify how many.