Cell phone networks join to promote advertising

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's five mobile phone networks have agreed to join forces and appoint a trade body to promote advertising over the medium, they said on Tuesday.

Vodafone (VOD.L), T-Mobile (DTEGn.DE), Orange (FTE.PA), O2 (TEF.MC) and 3 (0013.HK) said in a statement they would appoint the Internet Advertising Bureau -- the group tasked with linking marketers to Internet sites -- to sell the benefits of mobile advertising.

Many mobile operators, facing falling traditional voice revenue, have said they see advertising as a powerful offering as it allows brands to target consumers based on their location and at times of the day when they are otherwise hard to reach.

But executives from advertising and telecoms groups at a Reuters summit earlier this year said it was still at the experimental stage.

The IAB said a survey towards the end of 2007 with 40 senior-level marketers found that mobile advertising was viewed in much the same way as online advertising was in 2000 -- lacking standards, measurement systems and case studies to support the medium.

"These are exciting times for the industry -- consumers are becoming more acquainted with mobile as a marketing medium and increasingly accepting of relevant, targeted advertising on their handsets," said Shan Henderson, head of mobile advertising and industry development, at Vodafone.

(Reporting by Kate Holton; Editing by Greg Mahlich)