LONDON (Standard&Poor's CreditWire) Aug. 23, 2000--Following the completion of the Orange PLC acquisition, Standard&Poor's today lowered its long-term corporate credit and senior unsecured debt ratings on France Télécom to single-'A' from double-'A'-minus. France Télécom's short-term corporate credit and commercial paper ratings were lowered to 'A-1' from 'A-1'-plus. Standard&Poor's long-term corporate credit ratings on Orange were raised to single-'A' from triple-'B'-plus while its senior unsecured ratings were raised to single-'A' from triple-'B'. At the same time, all ratings on France Télécom were removed from Watch negative and all ratings on Orange were removed from Watch positive where they were placed on May 30, 2000. The outlook on both entities is negative. The original CreditWatch placements
