Orange Egypt and Avaya Collaborate to Enable Distance Learning in Egypt as Institutions Close in Effort to Contain Coronavirus Outbreak

Cairo, Egypt – March 18, 2020 – In quick response to the Egyptian government’s decision to close schools and universities for two weeks, as a measure to prevent the spread of coronavirus, Orange Egypt, the leading provider of integrated telecommunications services, and Avaya, a global communications and collaboration leader, have partnered to jointly enable all educational institutions in the country to implement remote learning initiatives. This follows the ongoing support by the two organizations for digital transformation and government-led innovation initiatives in Egypt and will serve to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the country’s education sector.

As per the collaboration agreement, Avaya will offer educational institutions in Egypt full-feature access to its flagship collaboration app, Avaya Spaces, for free, Avaya Spaces, is a cloud meeting and team collaboration solution that integrates chat, voice, video, online meetings and content sharing.

Highlighting the significance of his company’s collaboration with global leading technology vendors such as Avaya, Hisham Mahran, Vice President of Orange Egypt for the corporate sector said, “It is clear that technology plays a pivotal role in our day to day lives and is an especially valuable tool in such challenging times. Our partnership with Avaya is another testament to Orange Egypt’s commitment to supporting the digital transformation of key sectors in the country. The solution that we are jointly offering enables educational institutions to maintain the safety of students as their top priority, while ensuring minimum disruption to their education.”

“Orange Egypt has invested heavily in building an advanced network that serves as an enabler of business and today we are reaping the benefits of this investment. We will continue to engage with global technology leaders such as Avaya to deliver smart solutions that drive economic growth in Egypt, while fostering the wellbeing of society,” he added.

Ahmed Fayed - Country Manager for Egypt & Libya at Avaya said, “As a socially responsible organization, Avaya is deeply committed to providing technology for the good of humanity. In line with the recommendations made by the government to contain the spread of this pandemic, we are offering some of our premium communications and collaboration solutions for free to businesses and individuals in Egypt. We are proud to do so in collaboration with our strategic alliance partner, Orange Egypt, as they too have embraced their social obligations at the time of this crisis.”

The app being jointly offered by Orange Egypt and Avaya works on all Android and iOS smart devices and can also be securely accessed on personal computers and laptops via Chrome or Firefox browsers. It enables teachers and administrative staff to reliably communicate with parents, students and each other to minimize learning disruption amid the school closure.

Using the app, students will be able to participate in virtual classrooms from any location, with the ability to download study materials and send assignments to teachers electronically.

Parents too will benefit from the new offering as the app allows them to hold virtual meetings with professors, share inquiries and observations, and establish dedicated digital forums where they can engage with each other as well as with teachers, administrators, or staff in the educational institution.

About Orange
Orange is one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators with sales of 41 billion euros in 2018 and 148,000 employees worldwide at 30 September 2019, including 88,000 employees in France. The Group has a total customer base of 268 million customers worldwide at 30 September 2019, including 209 million mobile customers and 21million fixed broadband customers. The Group is present in 27 countries. Orange is also a leading provider of global IT and telecommunication services to multinational companies, under the brand Orange Business Services. In March 2015, the Group presented its new strategic plan “Essentials2020” which places customer experience at the heart of its strategy with the aim of allowing them to benefit fully from the digital universe and the power of its new generation networks.

Orange is listed on Euronext Paris (symbol ORA) and on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol ORAN).

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