Yahoo signs mega-mobile deals in Asia

100 million potential customers, web firm claims.

Yahoo has signed deals with Asian telecoms carriers to bring its services to almost 100 million new mobile users, the US internet giant announced today.

Six mobile carriers across the region will carry Yahoo oneSearch, which is effectively Yahoo's home page for mobile phone users whose carriers support the service.

Yahoo oneSearch is designed to let users easily search the web and other information services on mobile phones.

As well as allowing general searches of standard and mobile websites, specialised search services offer news, financial data and weather forecasts. Searches of photos on Yahoo's Flickr subsidiary are also supported.

Although rivals like Google and Microsoft have signed similar search deals in Asia in the past, Yahoo has a "clear leadership in the mobile space", claimed David Ko, a vice president and general manager with Yahoo Connected Life Asia.

Yahoo oneSearch will be available in 20 countries worldwide once the six new Asian carriers put the service online. The service launched in the US in January, and is also available from carriers in the UK and other nations in Europe and Asia.

Yahoo's new mobile partners are South Korea's LG Telecom, Taiwan Mobile, Malaysia's Maxis Communications, Globe Telecom of the Philippines, Idea Cellular Limited of India, and PT Telekomunikasi Selular of Indonesia.

In Malaysia, India and Indonesia, rival carriers have already signed up with Yahoo oneSearch.

"Partners are essential to our consumer-centric mobile strategy, and key relationships will continue to evolve and deliver great internet experiences to our respective customers," said Ko.