Advertising technology start-up Utiq inked a partnership with A1 Telekom Austria to launch its consent proposition based on what it terms responsible digital marketing in the operator’s home country.

Utiq is backed by Vodafone Group, Deutsche Telekom, Orange and Telefonica, and is already active in France, Germany, the UK, Italy and Spain, having launched in 2023.

The venture provides an advertising consent service it says allows “more relevant digital marketing experiences between brands, publishers and people”.

It also claims to enhance data privacy and offer consumers greater control over advertising consent while still enabling accurate targeting.

A1 director of marketing communications Marco Harfmann said the collaboration would bring “an exciting and above all practical and secure successor technology to third-party cookies to the market”.

“In combination with our large customer base, this opens up exciting solution approaches for the digital advertising industry,” he added.

Utiq states its “telco-powered” first-party identifier service is replacing third-party cookies, which it branded “ineffective, inaccurate and also face increasing restrictions”.

Its proposition initially focused on mobile connections across its markets, though last month Utiq launched a first version for home broadband in France.