MOBILE phone operator Orange is hoping to press home the advantage gained by a multi-million-pound campaign to teach users how to get the most out of their handsets.

The company began the campaign earlier this year in an attempt to increase the number of services customers were using - such as text, picture messaging and e-mail.

It employed phone trainers to teach people how to use the range of extra features modern handsets have.

The project saw phone trainers increasing footfall in Orange shops across the UK by 25 per cent.

More than 1.1 million customers have learnt how to send their first text message since the launch of Learn.

The company yesterday posted third-quarter revenues ahead of market expectations as it unveiled a strategy making it easier to use new services.

Orange, majority owned by France Telecom, said revenues in the three months to September 30 had risen 8.1 per cent to £3.2bn.

Customer numbers had increased 2.9 per cent to 46.9 million in the quarter, with 1.3 million additional subscribers.

Chief executive Sol Trujillo said Orange would unveil a series of initiatives in France and the UK next week intended to increase non-voice usage of mobile phones.

Last month, France Telecom announced plans to take over the stake in Orange it does not already own.

The French state-owned telecoms group said it planned to submit an exchange offer for Orange shares to France's regulatory authorities, aiming to buy the remaining 13.8 per cent of Orange in a deal valued at £4.95bn.

Orange yesterday temporarily suspended its shares in Paris and London in order to progress the acquisition.

Orange employs approximately 5,100 people in call centres in Darlington, Peterlee, in east Durham, and North Tyneside. The three centres handled almost 70 per cent of 12 million customer service calls in the last quarter.