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"Ringback" finally reaches Europe with Orange 'Calling Tunes' launch

by Tim Richardson | posted on 05 December 2005

Orange has launched a new music service that enables its punters to add more bells and whistles to their phones. Calling Tunes, as it's known, lets Orange punters choose music to play callers while they wait for the phone to be answered.

So instead of the ringing tone, callers might hear Stiff Competition by Cheap Trick or Won't get fooled again by The Who, or Roy O's Crying.

Pour quoi? Well, Orange, which is owned by France Telecom, was fined €256m (£174m) yesterday by France's competition commission (along with two other cellcos) for rigging the mobile market.

In light of this hefty fine, which the cellco has said it plans to appeal, Orange might want to reconsider increasing the £2.50-a-go charge for its Calling Tunes service.

This story copyright The Register