May 19, 2006

KDDI Corp. announced a deal allowing subscribers of its “au” service to access Google’s Internet search engine on their mobile phones.

Japan’s second-largest carrier said the service, which is slated for a July launch, will provide search results for content targeted at PCs and wireless phones.

Like Google’s online service, KDDI’s offering will also deliver text advertisements based on search terms that will be displayed along with search results.

KDDI’s au is a youth-targeted brand featuring music downloads and other multimedia offerings. Google’s technology will be incorporated into the operator’s EQ Web Internet service for au phones beginning in July.

Meanwhile, the Internet giant is also looking to power mobile search services for China’s second-largest operator.

The chief executive officer from China Mobile Ltd. said the carrier is in talks with Google to launch an Internet search offering for its users, according to news reports.

Google representatives were not immediately available for comment.

Google has teamed with several major wireless players in an effort to bring its offerings to mobile phones.

The company has struck a deal to serve as the default home page on the wireless Web for European T-Mobile subscribers, and Motorola has committed to embedding a Google-branded hard key that could be used to access the Internet on some devices.

Yahoo has taken a similar tack, scoring Internet service-related deals with Cingular Wireless L.L.C., Nokia Corp. and recently-launched mobile virtual network operator Helio L.L.C.

But some see the trend as a race to the bottom line for carriers, which face the threat of becoming dumb pipes for wireless data.

Source: RCR