Telefonica has joined forces with Nordic-based operator group Telenor to enable the new partner to make its APIs available to developers via Telefonica Digital’s BlueVia programme.

According to a Telenor statement, it joins BlueVia as an “equal partner”, and is inviting “other global telcos to join us in this new way of working together”.

TechCrunch reports that BlueVia said it expects the other participating operators to be more comparable with Telenor in terms of size than with Telefonica – indicating it is not looking to create an alternative incarnation of the Wholesale Applications Community.

Jose Valles, head of BlueVia, said that Telenor “understands that joining forces in our effort will benefit developers, the ecosystems and, of course, our customers”.

Initially, the effort will focus on making available the tools to enable developers to support operator billing.

Valles noted that “together we will surely launch new APIs founded on the knowledge we have gathered since the launch of BlueVia. But we’ll talk about those plans another day”.

Telenor has previously announced partnerships with Google Play, Microsoft and Facebook, to provide customers with “easier access to greater and richer mobile content, as well as flexible payment solutions”.

BlueVia is working with Apigee to make available its APIs to developers.