InfoSpace gets four years

Good news at last for InfoSpace – its contract to manage the Virgin Mobile UK Bites storefront has been extended by four years.

As part of the renewal, InfoSpace will also bring new search and advertising capabilities to the service. The Bites portal consists of bespoke content and services comprising music, film, fashion, lifestyle, celebrity, sport and humour.   

The deal comes at a time when Virgin Mobile is developing its converged portal offering as a key element of the quad-play offering resulting from the takeover by
ntl: Telewest.

Nick White, Head of digital services at Virgin Mobile, said: "Our subscriber base is among the most entertainment-savvy and so it is essential that we deliver fun and easily accessible mobile content. We are continuing to work with InfoSpace because they share our vision of a mobile phone service that is truly personalised and offers the most compelling multimedia content available."

Victor Malachard, senior director of business development at InfoSpace, added: "Virgin is ready to lead the development of converged portal entertainment content across mobile, Internet and digital TV services. In such a fast moving market, to sign a contract for four years is a strong endorsement of the work we've done together so far."