Major Wireless Carriers Explore Possibility of New Mobile Search Engine

Press Release - February 5, 2007

Some of the world’s top wireless operators, including Telefonica’s O2 and Vodafone, are reportedly planning to discuss the joint creation of a new mobile search engine that will rival established players like Google and Yahoo.

Carriers will convene this week at the 3GSM conference in Barcelona, where they plan to explore new ways of tapping into the web-based search and advertising business.

“There is a big play in mobile search that we need to be part of, and we are exploring those options at a very high level,” explained a UK wireless executive in an anonymous interview with The Daily Telegraph.

Recent reports indicate that the market for wireless internet services, including search, is growing fast in Britain and around the world. Informa Telecoms & Media, for example, predicts that by 2011, almost half of all cell phone subscribers will use some kind of mobile browsing service, resulting in mobile advertising sales of over $11 billion (£5.6 billion) annually.