NEW INTERNATIONAL ORANGE PARTNER PROGRAM TO ACCELERATE APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT ACROSS GLOBE
New one-stop shop makes it easy to get applications approved
Over 50m Orange customers to benefit from exciting new applications
Supported by Orange Developer Centres, one of which opens today in US
Over 10,000 developers already signed up to Orange Developer Program
28 June 2004. San Francisco, London, Amsterdam.
Orange today launched Orange Partner, designed to stimulate the development of exciting applications for current and next generation phones and deliver innovative new services directly to its 50 million-strong customer base.
As part of Orange Partner, the company announced its free web-based virtual developer centre – the Orange Partner portal – enabling software application and content creators to develop and test applications, have them certified by Orange, participate in free on-site and on-line training, receive white papers and use Application Programme Interfaces (APIs) with support from Orange.
The Orange Partner program also gives developers access to physical Orange Developer Centres – the latest of which opens in Boston, USA today. The Boston centre joins Orange Developer Centres in the UK and France, and will allow application developers to test their applications physically on Orange devices via the Orange network, then get the application certified by Orange. A total of nine centres are due to open across the globe by the end of 2004, providing third party developers with the resources to utilise a range of Orange devices and connect to the 3G network in a dedicated laboratory.
Richard Hanscott, VP Business Development & Partnerships for Orange, said: "Orange Partner is intended to stimulate developers into creating exciting and innovative applications for our 50 million customers. It provides support, tools, information, testing and certification, as well as access to Orange 3G Developer Centres across the globe. We already have over 10,000 developers working with Orange, benefiting from the tools and routes to market we can currently offer. We are now making that process even more effective and, for the first time, we are extending an invitation to developers outside Europe to join the Orange developer community."
He added: "The successful creation and distribution of innovative applications and services will be a crucial element in ensuring that the investment in third generation technologies – and the accordant benefits to customers and consequential operator revenues – are exploited to their full potential."
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For more information, call the Orange Media Centre on +44 207 984 2000 or +44 7973 201 911. Alternatively, visit the Orange Partner site at www.developers.orange.com
Notes to Editors
Orange and wirefree are trademarks of Orange PCS Ltd. The Orange group is one of the world's largest mobile communications companies, with operations in 19 countries across Europe and beyond. It provides a broad range of personal communications services, including Orange GSM1800 services and other digital cellular telephone services. The Orange brand operates in the UK, France, Switzerland, Romania, Denmark, Slovakia, Luxembourg, Thailand, the Ivory Coast, the Dominican Republic, Cameroon, the Netherlands, Botswana and Madagascar. The Orange group also has controlled operations in Belgium (Mobistar). The Orange group has a joint controlling interest in Egypt (MobiNil) and minority interests in Portugal (Optimus), Austria (One), and Mumbai/India (BPL Mobile). As at the end of March 2004, Orange was the largest mobile operator in both the UK with 13.8 million active customers, and France with 20.4 million registered customers. As at the end of March 2004, Orange controlled companies had over 50 million customers worldwide. Orange, along with TIM, Telefonica and T-Mobile, is a founding member of the FreeMove alliance. Further information about Orange can be found on the Orange website at http://www.orange.com/.
Orange Partner is a global partner and developer program from one of the world's leading mobile operators - Orange. The program provides mobile application developers with online training, a research database, tools, testing processes, application programming interfaces and peer-to-peer contact via the Orange Partner portal - www.developers.orange.com. It also provides access to Orange global development centres and a whole range of other support services to members of the program. Orange Partner has been created to provide support to developers wishing to develop and propose solutions for possible distribution to a 50m-plus customer base in 19 countries.
