Cable & Wireless, the global telecoms company, has formed a joint venture with Nokia of Finland to develop an internet platform for mobile phones.
The platform will provide web-hosting facilities that package together a range of software applications for mobile internet, tailored to the needs of a variety of customers.
Cable & Wireless has identified those customers as ranging from second and third generation mobile phone operators, dot.com companies, internet service providers and large corporations.
The announcement sparked some initial excitement from analysts, as it potentially extends Cable & Wireless's revenue stream beyond its core focus of providing data, internet and voice services to businesses.
"If this works out for them it could be very lucrative," said Jim Ross, analyst at ABN Amro.
"Going in with Nokia makes a lot of sense as the standards set for the next generation of mobile services are going to be fragmented and dominated by the big phone manufacturers."
Cable & Wireless and Nokia declined to reveal details of their investment into the joint venture or the likely revenue projections, claiming that the information was commercially sensitive.
Revenues are expected to be generated from access and web hosting charges, transaction fees and the provision of application service products. One analyst suggested the revenues could eventually be as much as £500m annually.
Mr Wallace said the mobile internet platform would be operating by the year end with Cable & Wireless providing the web hosting facilities from its data centres.
The joint venture has already signed several customers to the service.
Mr Wallace, however, said that the launch of the joint venture would have no effect on the company's financial forecasts.
In the next three years 350m people are expected to access internet content via mobile phones.
Market analysts Forrester expect internet revenues will soar from $5.3m to $3.8bn in 2005.
While Nokia claims the number of mobile phone users will reach 1bn by the end of 2002.
Based on these projections, Mr Wallace said it was possible for "loads of money" to be made in the internet mobile platform market.
"You can see this market's size, it's huge," he said. "By combining the strength of our global internet protocol infrastructure and hosting centres with Nokia's innovative wireless internet solutions and leading position in the mobile market, Cable & Wireless is opening up this new market for its customers."
The software applications that Cable & Wireless may provide from its web hosting facilities for the internet platform include news, weather to a service that is able to track a mobile users as they move from country to country and provide them with information that is relevant to their location.
Mr Wallace stressed that content for its mobile internet services would be provided by specialists firms.
Separately, Independent News' priced its flotation of iTouch at 100p-130p a share. iTouch provides international mobile consumer and corporate services and would be capitalised at £325m based on the mid-price of the indicative range.
