UK mobile operator T-Mobile jumped into bed with web giant Yahoo! on Thursday, announcing a partnership which will see the first graphical advertising appear on T-Mobile’s internet service.

T-Mobile and Yahoo! will combine their expertise in the industry and knowledge of consumer habits, to enable advertisers to offer targeted graphical ads for users of the Web’n’walk service.

The first mobile advertisements are expected to hit screens in the first half of this year.

Geraldine Wilson, VP and GM of Connected Life for Yahoo Europe, told telecoms.com, “If our goal is to be number one in search and advertising, there are one or two things we have to do when we work with operators and publishers. We want to be their partner for selling and serving advertising on their sites and we’ve announced a number of agreements here in Europe.”

Last year, Yahoo announced a deal with Vodafone, under which it looks after the advertising on the Vodafone Live site.

“Today the reality is, the way most people access the internet on the phone is first through the operator portal. Therefore, that’s why we place a lot of importance on being the preferred partner with the operators,” Wilson said.