Pan-European and Latin American operator Telefonica is to establish a group-wide advertising platform in an effort to drive mobile advertising revenue. The company – which owns O2 – is to launch a single ad server this year for its operations in the UK, Spain, Mexico and Colombia, with others to follow next year. The operator said the platform will give agencies a single point of contact to buy, deploy and monitor campaigns – which will include display banners, in-game, video and messaging advertising – across Telefonica’s 170 million subscriber base.

The ad server will be managed by Amobee Media Systems, a firm that has already received investment and trial deals from Telefonica, as well as Vodafone. Mobile advertising is considered a serious potential new revenue opportunity for operators worldwide. MVNO Blyk – which offers free voice calls and text messaging in exchange for receipt of targeted advertising – claims success in the UK, with plans to launch elsewhere in Europe in the next twelve months. Meanwhile Philippine operator Connectivity Unlimited Resource Enterprise (CURE), a subsidiary of Smart Communications, said today it hopes to attract some 60,000 to 70,000 subscribers to its advertising-supported mobile services by end-2008.