African MTN, the telecommunications company has started to co-operate with Opera to bring mobile web browser to more than 3 million customers. In July 2008 more than 15.8 million people have used the browser with various non-WAP content, but the top sites which users most desired were Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Wikipedia, BBC, CNN etc.

“MTN has been at the forefront of bringing our customers the most innovative and efficient ways of having the world at their fingertips. With this latest addition to MTN’s solutions portfolio, we are confident that customers will find web browsing a much easier and more pleasurable experience.” said Noel Meier, MTN’s CEO. He added, “Partnering with Opera Software will enable MTN to provide this experience to our customers therefore re-affirming our commitment to being a total telecommunications solutions provider in Uganda.”

Opera together with Jamba have started to work on a new customized homepage of the Opera Mini. The new service will include music, games, video, graphics, applications and much more. The partnership also allows users to access the Jamba site with one easy click and get entertainment content e.g. The Simpsons, 24, Family Guy, Nip/Tuck, NASCAR, Dog Whisperer.

Kaj Hagros, COO of Jamba, said, “Users are not only becoming increasingly familiar with the idea ofaccessing the Web with their phones, but also desire a rich mobile Web experience regardless of the device they use. Our goal is to provide consumers the best branded and original mobile content across every conceivable platform, anywhere in the world. Opera Software is the only company that puts the Web on any device, and was a natural partner for Jamba to extend easy, on-demand access to our premium content for customers across the globe.”

The content will be enabled on cell phones as well as on computers, portable media players and game consoles, and will be first available in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand and UK.

O2 customers in Germany will get new handsets with pre-installed and over-the-air (OTA) version of Opera Mini, the popular mobile browser. Users will be able to browse weather, e-commerce, news feeds, and social networking web sites. The browser will first be available on Samsung U900 Soul, Samsung U800 Soulb, Sony Ericsson C902, Sony Ericsson C702 and Sony Ericsson W760i. The OTA version will be available on Sony Ericsson K800i, Sony Ericsson K850i, Sony Ericsson W880i, Sony Ericsson W890i, Sony Ericsson W910i, Nokia 6233, Nokia 6280, Nokia 6500 classic, Nokia 6500 slide, Samsung U700, Samsung U900 Soul and Samsung Z400.

Switzerland’s Swisscom has selected the Opera Mini browser for web browsing to its mobile phone customers. The Opera Mini will be available for download soon over the air (OTA) on most Swisscom-operated phones.

“We are the leaders in providing the Internet to Switzerland. We are proud of our advanced HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) network that currently covers 90 percent of the Swiss population,” says Thomas Hüter, Head of Internet Experience, Swisscom. “We wanted the most feature-rich and fast browser available that will work on all the Swisscom mobile phones on the market today. Opera Mini has proven its value to millions of users all over the world, and we want to offer our customers a great mobile browsing experience.”

So if you need to browse faster and more cost efficiently by reducing the amount of data transferred, the Opera Mini may be the right choice.

Opera Mini