Yahoo to expand mobile carrier deals across Asia
By siliconindia   |   Tuesday, 13 November 2007, 20:30 IST
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San Francisco: Yahoo has signed new deals to offer mobile phone web services through nine network operators across Asia. The Silicon Valley-based Internet company also said on tuesday that it was introducing a mobile service called ?Yahoo Go? in Taiwan. These deals build on six earlier Asian carrier partnerships announced in June. "Those 16 deals will give us roughly 40 percent coverage of all subscribers in those countries," said Marco Boerries, Yahoo's top Mobile Executive. Yahoo is racing to attract subscribers to Internet services delivered through mobile phones rather than computer browsers as Google disclosed a plan to offer software to create a new class of Internet ready phones. Telecom carriers and Internet service providers are looking to capture market generating advertising sales of $12.8 billion by 2011. Boerries said there were more deals coming. "We have a clear goal to lead the market. The goal is to exceed 50 percent." "In Japan and China, Yahoo operates through joint ventures that handle all deal-making with mobile operators," says Boerries said. It is working with China?s Alibaba.com Corp on deals with carriers in the world?s biggest mobile market. Yahoo Japan, which is majority-owned by Softbank, is the country's third biggest mobile operator. The Yahoo partnership deals to be unveiled on Tuesday at an industry trade fair in Macau include three Indian carriers: Aircel, BPL Mobile and BSNL Together with six earlier Asian partnerships set in June, Yahoo now has exclusive or preferred deals to have its internet services featured on four of India's top eight carriers. After introducing OneSearch, its internet service for mobile phones, Yahoo has struck deals with 20 mobile operators worldwide.

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