UPDATE 3-Vodafone to open network to application developers

* Launches revenue-sharing application store

* To be available on all Vodafone devices

(Adds quotes, detail, reaction)

By Kate Holton

LONDON, May 12 (Reuters) - Vodafone (VOD.L), the world's largest mobile operator by revenue, plans to launch a mobile online store to sell games, news and travel applications that its customers can use on any phone.

Following the runaway success of Apple's (AAPL.O) AppStore, Vodafone said on Tuesday it would launch software to allow content partners and developers to create Web applications that could be used across its entire range of phones to reach millions of customers.

The developers will be able to charge for the applications directly through Vodafone's billing system and will get a 70 percent revenue share.

The first applications will be available towards the end of the year in the UK, Italy, Germany, Spain, Netherlands, Greece, Portugal and Ireland and Vodafone said it expected to expand the service in the future.

As phone makers and operators search for ways to stimulate demand and differentiate themselves in a saturated market, software that is easy and inexpensive to access has proven popular.

Apple's AppStore lets iPhone users download thousands of small software programmes that personalise the way they play games, get directions and listen to music.

It said in April that customers had downloaded 1 billion applications in just nine months.

After witnessing the huge Apple success, mobile groups, including market leaders Nokia (NOK1V.HE), Microsoft (MSFT.O) Blackberry (RIM.TO) and others, have raced to launch their own software stores this year.

HUGE FOOTPRINT

Analysts said Vodafone's offering would be attractive to developers as it offers such a huge footprint across different handsets and geographies.

"Vodafone has several hundred million customers, a huge footprint," Daiwa analyst Michael Kovacocy told Reuters.