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You've Got AOL on the Phone

AOL Internet services and AIM will be offered on wireless devices from six vendors.

By Nancy Weil, IDG News   

The deals are with Sprint PCS, Nokia, Motorola, Research in Motion, BellSouth, and Arch Communications Group. Sprint PCS mobile phones will offer users Internet access and will provide content and services via the AOL Wireless initiative.

AOL representatives did not say when the new devices will be available, but note that research finds about 70 percent of households with AOL subscriptions also have a cellular telephone, pager, or both. Nokia said that its devices allowing AOL Instant Messenger access should be out in the second half of this year.

Many of the deals also involve mobile versions of the AIM chat service. Nokia and AOL will partner to develop a version of the chat service for Nokia wireless handheld devices. Motorola will offer access to AOL Mobile Messenger services via a number of its wireless devices. AOL Mobile Messenger will be offered through a custom, AOL-branded handheld device from Research in Motion, a Canadian wireless provider.

AOL will use the BellSouth network in its new Mobile Messenger service and also intends to provide AOL e-mail and AIM to users of BellSouth Intelligent Wireless Network-enabled services.

Arch Communications devices will offer two-way wireless messaging for the new AOL Mobile Messenger service and also will offer AOL e-mail and AIM to users of devices enabled with Arch messaging capabilities.