Orange is extending its Partner Programme to offer developers better access to its web services and other resources in a bid to speed up the introduction of new applications for both desktop and mobile environments.

The mobile operator will introduce a centralised services platform later this year and said it is working towards providing a single set of application programming interfaces (APIs) for partners and software vendors to access its available services.

Bertrand Mignot, product manager at Orange's parent company France Telecom, said its API catalogue will be a new way of extending the use of Orange services by third parties. The first version will be available by the end of this year, but this will just be a subset that the company will expand upon in future, he said.

The portfolio will include services such as Contact Everyone, used for broadcasting SMS, MMS or voicemail messages to a company's entire team or for e-marketing purposes, and facilities for setting up audio and video web conferences. Orange will also open up its Pikeo photo-sharing service through APIs, Mignot said.

These services will be available for PCs as well as mobiles because they can be delivered directly through a browser, according to Mignot. Developers will also have access to support from Orange Labs on specific questions, tips and tricks.

"We're really looking at simplifying life for our partners so they can quickly develop applications," Mignot said.

Some web services will be introduced on a beta basis for trials, according to Orange, but commercial access will be by contract.