3! inks! deal! with! Yahoo!

Web access on the go

By Tim Richardson • Get more from this author

Posted in Mobile, 29th June 2006 10:11 GMT

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3 is to give its punters unrestricted access to the wibbly wobbly web following a deal with Yahoo!. The 3G phone outfit has signed a global agreement with the internet giant to use its mobile internet services.

The pair will work together to offer 3's punters services such as Yahoo! Search, Yahoo! Mobile Web, Yahoo! Messenger and Yahoo! Mail.

The first services will be made available in the UK later this summer. But 3 is also looking to expand the service to other countries, including Italy, Ireland, Austria, Sweden, Denmark and Australia.

The companies will jointly market the services on the Yahoo! and 3 networks.

"The arrangement will use Yahoo!'s expertise in transcoding online content for mobile devices to allow 3 customers to surf the entire world wide web from their handsets for the first time," 3 said in a statement today.

Up until now 3 has restricted access to the web. Last September it introduced its "Mobile Web" service, which provided access to sites that had been vetted by the cellco and "optimised for viewing on compatible video mobiles".

Before that, 3 provided access to a "walled garden" of content. ®

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