Vodafone has joined with four major internet companies to launch a 99-cent per day mobile internet service with pages and content tailored for viewing on mobile handsets.

Google, eBay, YouTube and MySpace will offer specially-designed and compressed pages that are directly accessible through Vodafone's internet portal, Vodafone live.

"We're not trying to position this as a replacement for fixed line internet - we're offering a unique service to bring mobiles and the internet together," said Vodafone Ireland chief executive Charles Butterworth.

"We've taken the best of the web - eBay, Google, MySpace and YouTube - and are bringing their uniqueness to mobiles."

Web pages can be difficult to view on the tiny screens of mobile handsets, an issue that analysts feel has inhibited mobile users from embracing internet services. As call revenue decreases, mobile operators are eager to push users towards data services such as internet access. So far such mobile services have only attracted mild interest outside east Asia.

Mr Butterworth said the 99 cent daily charge for prepay or postpay, or €9.99 monthly postpay charge, would make it attractive for mobile users to access their favourite sites and online services through the portal.

As part of the service, Vodafone will re-encode video streams so that mobile users can watch any YouTube video. Vodafone customers with 2G or 3G phones can also update their MySpace profiles with their handsets. Auction site eBay has worked with Vodafone to enable eBay users to track auctions and bid by handset.

Vodafone live is one of the Republic's 10 most visited portals, with 640,000 customers accessing the portal monthly.