[Foundation-l] New Business Partnership with Orange

[Kul Takanao Wadhwa]

Hi All,

I am spreading the news around (I just posted to the internal list) 
about a new announcement going out in a couple hours. For the past few 
months I have been working on a deal with Orange (France Telecom) on a 
new kind of multi-platform (web, mobile, IPTV) partnership for the 
Wikimedia Foundation.  This partnership will extend co-branding 
opportunities and have Wikipedia's knowledge brought to some new 
audiences. It will also allow for us to experiment with new technologies 
to improve the functionality and delivery of our content. Furthermore, 
this is an additional revenue stream to build on our most important 
revenue stream - our successful fundraising campaigns.

This partnership will start in four European territories: France, UK, 
Poland and Spain. I already notified the chapter reps in Poland, UK, and 
France (3 of the 4 territories where we have chapters).  They've had a 
couple days to process the info and prepare for any media questions they 
may come their way.

Here is the announcement that will go out soon:

http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/Orange_and_Wikimedia_announce_partnership_April_2009

Also, here is the Q&A that should address some of the basic questions 
about this partnership.

http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/Orange_and_Wikimedia_announce_partnership_April_2009Q

Feel free to contact me or the list if you have any questions.


--Kul

Head of Business Development