France Telecom S.A. is the main telecommunications company in France, the third-largest in Europe and one of the largest in the world. It currently employs about 180,000 people and has 192.7 million customers worldwide . In 2010 the group had revenue of €45.5 billion. Its head office is in Place d'Alleray in the 15th arrondissement of Paris, and the current CEO is Stéphane Richard. In 1792, under the French Revolution, the first communication network was developed to enable the quick transporting 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 phone, the French State created a Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs. Telephone Services were added to the ministry when they were nationalized in 1889. However, it was not until 1923 that the second 'T' appeared and the department of P&T became PTT. In 1941, a General Direction of Telecommunications was created within this ministry.
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| Founded: | 1988 |
| Headquarters: | Paris, France |
| Annual revenue: | $72,488,000,000 |
| Net income: | €6,300,000,000 |
| Operating income: | $8,623,000,000 |
| Employees: | 220,000 |
| Industries: | Fixed Network Operator, Telecommunications, Wired Telecommunications Carriers, Telephone Communications, Except Radiotelephone |