The deal brings to an end months of speculation as to when and with who MySpace would take the mobile plunge in Europe.

Fox Interactive Media-owned MySpace has so far only been available to mobile users on the Helio and Cingular networks in the US, though anecdotally the site receives a lot of traffic from users with full web browsers on their handsets.

Now it's going up against the likes of Germany-based mobile social networking specialist GoFresh, which is attracting 100 million monthly page impressions on its itsmy.com mobile internet community.

Launching first in the UK, the new partnership will allow Vodafone users to edit their own MySpace profiles, find and add friends, post photos and blogs and send and receive MySpace messages.

A MySpace Mobile app will be both pre-loaded on selected Vodafone handsets ‘out of the box’ and available as a download from Vodafone live!

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Colin Digiaro, SVP of corporate development international at MySpace, said: “Millions of people use MySpace as their primary means of communicating with family and friends, so it’s vital we make this available on the move. Whether it’s adding new friends, sending messages, or uploading photos, the ability to access MySpace functionality from your mobile adds a new dimension to the experience.”

Frank H. Rövekamp, global chief marketing officer at Vodafone, said: “Today’s announcement is a great example of Vodafone empowering its customers with new, internet-based services on their Vodafone live!  handsets, helping people make the most of their time.”

John Smelzer, SVP and GM of Mobile at Fox Interactive Media, said: “The Vodafone partnership underscores Fox Interactive Media’s commitment to extending its network of websites to mobile devices on a global basis.”