A new strategic partnership between Microsoft and Orange has been revealed with the new link meaning that Orange’s (or France Telecom, depending on how you look at it) 135 million customers will now be able to converse with Microsoft’s 240 million messenger users in real time whether via mobile phone or PC, according to Digital Lifestyles.

Orange have announced that the service will be rolling out in France by the end of the year while hitting Spain and the UK in early 2007.

Vodafone had been working with Microsoft in order to produce a similar relationship though according to Microsoft it is not the same service as announced with Orange. Live Messenger, which is now allowing users to contact those on Yahoo Messenger will exist on the Orange mobile handsets as “Orange Messenger by Windows Live’”.