Orange and Twitter launch new partnership

Orange and Twitter have joined forces to allow users to tweet to each other via their television sets.

The mobile phone giant, which also runs TV and internet services internationally, plans to integrate Twitter into football coverage, news, films and entertainment shows, according to reports.

Orange will roll out its new Twitter service in the UK first, before launching in France, Spain and Poland later this year.

The service will also become available in other European markets next year.

Stephanie Hospital, director of development and partnerships at Orange, said: “In countries where we have TV services we plan to enrich shows by allowing people to tweet while they watch their favourite programmes.”

The deal will also see the micro-blogging social network become completely integrated into Orange’s mobile functions.

Up until now, Twitter users have only been able to send and receive tweets from their online account or by text message.

However, users will now have access to digital media services via their mobile, which includes features such as uploading and sharing photos on Twitter.

Paul Francois Fournier, executive vice president at Orange, said: “By integrating Twitter into our various mobile and internet services we are making it a greater part of people’s every day lives.”

The new service will be made available to all Orange customers, but the company plans to push it to those with an existing Dolphin package, which is tailored towards multimedia phone users.