According to sources close to the situation, France Telecom could be putting the squeeze on Orange. The current imbroglio started after the Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa sold the brand name Orange as well as its mobile operations in Britain, to Mannesmann of Germany in 1998. Earlier this year, the Orange brand was bought over by France Telecom from Mannesmann.

Significantly, when Hutchison Whampoa sold the brand in 1998, it sought an exception for promoting the Orange brand in Mumbai - as the group had operations in that metro alone, at that time.

It may be recalled that The Hutchison Group had initially planned to launch the Orange brand in Delhi, in May 2000, through its 49 per cent holding in Sterling Cellular - bought from Swisscom and NRI C Sivasankaran. This was later delayed to October 2000. The Orange brand was also to be launched in Calcutta, where The Hutchison Group holds 49 per cent in Usha Martin.

However, with no signs of a Diwali debut, it is clear that the Orange launch in Delhi has run into rough weather. Mr Sudarshan Banerjee, CEO of Sterling Cellular, which is currently operating in Delhi under the `Essar' brand, agreed that there is a delay in the Orange launch in the Capital, but attributed it to an expansion in its network. "We might launch Orange some time next year in Delhi," he added.

When contacted by The Financial Express, the Mumbai-based chief executive officer of Orange Mr Sandip Das claimed ignorance on France Telecom opposing the launch of the brand in other cities. "It was upto the equity partners in the New Delhi and Calcutta ventures to decide on whether to launch Orange or not," he said.

Although The Hutchison Group retained the right to use the brand name in the Asia-Pacific region, the India market became a tricky issue: for, here, France Telecom has a direct 26 per cent holding in cellular operator BPL Mobile. Pertinently, the two players fighting a raging battle for the lucrative Mumbai cellular market are BPL Mobile and Hutchison Max.