By Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) - British mobile phone company Vodafone Group Plc. unveiled a deal with News Corp.’s MySpace on Wednesday that will allow its customers to access the popular web-based social network using cell phones.

The exclusive deal will help Vodafone, Europe’s biggest mobile operator, boost mobile usage and with it data revenues, and also helps MySpace launch itself in the European mobile market.

MySpace, bought by media giant News Corp. for $580 million in 2005, has been looking to boost its global network of users via international expansion, offering mobile and video-related content.

“The partnership will enable millions of Vodafone customers to access MySpace mobile, allowing them to edit their own MySpace profiles, find and add friends, post photos and blogs, and send and receive MySpace messages while on the move,” the two companies said in a statement.

Vodafone, which plans to initially roll out the service in the United Kingdom in the first half of 2007, said it would pre-load MySpace mobile software on select handsets in the future, and also make it available for download from its Vodafone live! portal.

MySpace, which lets members look up friends’ blogs and songs posted by their favorite artists, launched in the U.K. last year and has been looking to spread its wings in Europe. Last month it launched its French web site and it has a beta site in Germany.