Orange strengthens hold on UK number one spot

Orange says it has consolidated its lead in the UK mobile phone market after adding 320,000 customers in the third quarter.

This takes Orange's total customer base in the UK to 12.2 million, and the company claims each of these is 'active' - having received more than four incoming calls in the trading period.

While Vodafone increased its total subscriber base in the UK by 251,000 to 12.8 million in the third quarter, this figure included inactive customers.

In the second quarter, inactive customers accounted for 16% of Vodafone's total.

Orange, which is owned by France Telecom, says 218,000 of its new customers chose to take out contract tariffs - as opposed to pre-pay phones.

It says this reflects its decision earlier this year to remove subsidies on pre-pay phones, a move which has pushed up prices by £30 to £50.

Pre-pay customers accounted for 32% of the growth in the third quarter, as opposed to 73% in the previous three months. Orange now has 8.6 million pre-pay customers in the UK, and 3.6 million on a contract tariff.

Chief executive Jean Francois Pontal says: "We have increased our position as the number one operator whilst deliberately shifting our focus to higher value customers."

Orange added 1.5 million new customers worldwide in the third quarter, taking its global customer base to 37 million - an increase of 41% over the same period a year ago.