Orange agrees Twitter TV deal

Orange has agreed a deal with Twitter to enable users to send messages on their TV sets while watching entertainment and sport programming.

Under the agreement, the France Telecom-owned mobile operator will harness the popularity of Twitter on its TV platform by allowing viewers to tweet each other during sports matches, entertainment shows and movies, reports The Guardian.

However, the new service will only benefit users in countries where Orange has an existing TV operation - Spain, Poland and France - meaning that the UK will miss out for now.

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

Orange does intend, though, to launch an alternative Twitter service in Britain enabling mobile users to upload and share photos on the social media platform.

The move is part of overall plans to more fully integrate Twitter, along with other social media sites Facebook, MySpace and Bebo, into Orange services.

Under the Social Life banner, Orange subscribers will get much quicker and easier access to various social media resources to improve their overall experience.

"By integrating Twitter into our various mobile and internet services we are making it a greater part of people's everyday lives," said Orange executive vice president Paul Francois Fournier.

Hospital added that the Social Life functions would be primarily marketed at Orange customers on the Dolphin package, which is orientated towards multimedia options.