Orange rings up Bebo deal

One month after Vodafone wooed MySpace, rival Orange has announced a union with social networker Bebo.

From this summer, Orange users will be able to tinker with their Bebo profile via Bebo Mobile, add comments to friends' profiles through SMS, upload photos, add friends and post new blog entries.

While pricing is still under wraps, Orange will be flogging punters a 'Bebo bundle' with data access and SMS postings to Bebo for a flat fee.

Vodafone announced in February it had signed a deal with Rupert Murdoch's MySpace to include a mobile version of the software on handsets and charge users a monthly subscription to use the social networking site.

Unlike Vodafone's offerings, Orange users won't need to download software to get their social-networking fix - Bebo will be accessed via the operator's Orange World portal.

Bebo is the second most popular social networking site in the UK after MySpace and was the eighth biggest growing internet brand last year, according to Nielsen/NetRatings, seeing its audience grow by 85 per cent.