How it started
Nationalised service (1878–1980s)
In 1792, under the French Revolution, the first communication network was developed to enable the rapid transmission of information in a warring and unsafe country. That was the optical telegraphy network of Claude Chappe.
In 1878, after the invention of the electrical telegraph and then the invention of the telephone, the French State created a Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs. Telephone services were nationalised and added to the ministry in 1889. However, it was not until 1923 that the second 'T' (for 'telephones') appeared and the department of P&T (Posts and Telegraphs) became PTT.
In 1941, a General Direction of Telecommunications was created within this ministry. Then, in 1944, the National Centre of Telecommunications Studies (CNET) was created to develop the telecommunications industry in France.
In the 1970s, France attempted to make up for its delay in developing communications infrastructure, compared to other countries, by launching the programme "Delta LP" (increasing the main lines). It was at that time that the majority of the local loop was built (that is all the cables linking the users to the operator). Moreover, with the help of French manufacturers, digital switching -- Minitel and the GSM standard—were invented by engineers and CNET researchers.
In 1982, Telecom introduced Minitel online ordering for its customers.
From Wikipedia’s article on Orange, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3