Verizon Wireless is to deliver selected video clips from Youtube to cell phones starting in December in a bid to increase subscriptions to its mobile media service.
Youtube, the leading online video-sharing site that was bought by Internet search leader Google this month, said it hopes to expand beyond computers to phones. It did not reveal the financial terms of the deal.
Verizon Wireless has been increasingly betting on text messaging and advanced services like music and video for growth as phone call prices keep falling.
But so far only a small minority of US consumers use features such as video on their cell phones. Verizon Wireless hopes the huge popularity of many home videos shown on Youtube could help boost use of its Vcast wireless media service.
Under the Youtube agreement, consumers who pay a $15 monthly fee for Vcast will be able to use their cell phones to view consumer-generated content posted on Youtube's website.