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Irish 3G users on the Vodafone network are about to get 18 new channels delivered straight to their phones under a deal inked Wednesday between the operator and Rupert Murdoch’s Sky.

Dubbed ‘Sky Mobile TV’, the service will launch on June 15 and will be available in three packages: Sky One, National Geographic, Discovery, Living and the Biography Channel.

According to the pair, some channels will be broadcast live while others will be served on a delayed broadcast “made for mobile” channels.

Sport is given its own spot: A UEFA Champions League channel and Eurosport.

Vodafone customers with 3G handsets will get the service for free until September 1 2006. After that date customers will be charged EUR1.99 per week for each of the TV packages, with unlimited access to all channels available for EUR4.99 per week.

The four channel packs are:

Sky News and Sport Pack: Sky News, Sky Sports News, Discovery Factual, CNN. At the Races (daytime only). National Geographic and Biography.

Sky Entertainment Pack: Sky One, Sky Movies Mobile, Cartoon Network, Living, Bravo, and Discovery Lifestyle.

Sky Music Pack: Kiss, The Box, and Kerrang

Basic Pack: UEFA Champions League and Eurosport

Mark Newman, chief research officer of Telecoms.com’s parent, Informa Telecoms and Media, said Vodafone and Sky are priming the market with these services. “3G does not really have the capacity to support mobile TV” said Newman. “Both companies are hoping that by launching these services they can put themselves in prime position to benefit from the faster speeds offered by HSDPA and learn valuable lessons for the launch of true mobile TV.”

Vodafone claims to have more than 237,000 customers using 3G. It claimed that Irish customers have downloaded 1.3 million videos and almost 500,000 music tracks over the past year.

Celine Fitzgerald, director at Vodafone Ireland said: “This is a hugely significant development for both the mobile and television industries. Two industry leaders, Sky and Vodafone, have come together to provide Ireland with the first commercially available TV service over mobile. Over the past year Vodafone Ireland customers have downloaded 1.3 million videos and almost 500,000 music tracks demonstrating the demand for these kind services.”

Vodafone’s link with Sky is interesting according to Newman who wonders what lies ahead of the duo. “It will also be interesting to see whether, in the longer term, Vodafone and Sky end up competing or collaborating on broadband. Sky owns broadband ISP Easynet while Vodafone has been tipped as a bidder for either Tiscali or AOL - competitors to Easynet.”