O2 is set to announce it has signed up auction giant eBay to its i-mode mobile internet service.
The service, which can already be accessed via i-mode enabled handsets, is thought to be receiving its official launch soon.
eBay will now be able to offer its users the chance to check their auctions on the move, with a version of the site specially optimised for use on mobile handsets, using technology developed by NTT DoCoMo in Japan.
The i-mode version of eBay provides most of the same functionality as the regular internet service, including the ability to bid, search the auction site and monitor the progress of auctions using the ‘my eBay’ function.
eBay users won’t be able to pay for purchases on their mobiles, however – auction winners will have to return to their computers to use PayPal or pay offline. O2 is hoping the service will appeal most to auction addicts who want to register last-minute bids while away from their PCs.
According to Alex Zadvorny, senior analyst at Informa Telecoms and Media, a mobile eBay could prove more popular with sellers rather than buyers, however.
Zadvorny said: “It’s good for O2. eBay is one of those applications people will eventually find useful [on i-mode], particularly people that like to be close to the bidding all the time.”
He said: “This is something incremental rather than something that will transform i-mode. I don’t think it will necessarily add too many users – I don’ t think many people use their phones for mobile transactions.”
If the service follows O2’s typical i-mode pricing structure, it will cost up to £3 per month to use. One avid user of the auction site said the i-mode service’s ‘my eBay’ and outbid notifications would appeal to her but the pricing structure could put buyers and sellers off.

Posted: 01|7|06 at 11:19 am. Filed under: Auction News.