Yahoo and SBC Communications have agreed to collaborate
to extend some of the online services and content they currently
provide to PC users to mobile phones and home entertainment
devices.
The two companies, which have provided co-branded digital
subscriber line (DSL) and dial-up internet service since
2002, announced they have agreed to continue that partnership and
extend it with new services that will be available next year.
Subscribers to the co-branded DSL and dial-up services
receive not only internet access, but also a variety of
complementary services, such as e-mail, security tools and
multimedia content.
The planned new services include:
- Project Lightspeed and Home Entertainment, for extending to
home entertainment devices, such as television sets and stereo
equipment, Yahoo-SBC services and content, such as video on demand,
internet radio and online photos.
- Cingular Wireless, for extending Yahoo-SBC content and services
to Cingular Wireless subscribers.
- SBC FreedomLink Wi-Fi, for integrating Yahoo-SBC content and
services with the SBC Wi-Fi service.
The companies' initiative is a clear attempt to move internet
services and broadband content beyond a PC's boundaries. Users
increasingly expect to have access to internet services and content
from wireless devices and consumer electronics products.
A race is brewing in the internet protocol television segment
between Yahoo and Microsoft's MSN, with Yahoo grabbing an early
lead, one analyst said.
"I see IP TV as a venue for all types of new content," said
Allen Weiner, a Gartner analyst. Weiner predicted that Yahoo would
begin "creating all kinds of new content" in the future, both as a
TV producer and as a TV network.
Microsoft's MSN is in a position to challenge Yahoo, but "Yahoo
is well ahead of MSN" in this space right now, Weiner said.
The companies did not provide information on when next year
these services might be available or at what price.
Juan Carlos Perez writes for IDG News Service