Orange squeezes costs with Java rollout

Orange, the mobile arm of France Telecom Group, has selected Sun's Java Enterprise System (JES) to replace the software infrastructure supporting 22,000 employees in France, the UK, Switzerland, Belgium, The Netherlands and Slovakia.

Sun said that JES, due to be deployed in a three-year phased rollout, will allow Orange to reduce European operating costs by lowering maintenance and simplifying software licensing.

The initial JES components being implemented include Messaging Server, Calendar Server, Directory Server, Sun Cluster, Web Server and Portal Server.

These components will be implemented in various European territories to support local applications and services.

In France, the mobile operator will initially be using the Directory Server for its WAP Gateway and Sun Cluster software for projects such as Wi-Fi and content billing.

Using the Java infrastructure, Orange said it will extend its Wireless ISP Enhanced WAP Gateway Infrastructure directory to 20 million entries.

John Loiacono, Sun executive vice president of software, said in a statement: "Orange will now be able to not only significantly reduce deployment costs and realise savings throughout Europe, but to react to its customers' demands more quickly and offer new services that capitalise on these demands without the need for further software investment to develop new services.

"The consistency of software across Orange's European operations also means less complex systems to maintain and build on in the future, translating to increased operational efficiencies."

Orange is an existing Sun customer, with Orange UK currently using 1,300 Sun servers and support services.