Network equipment vendor Alcatel-Lucent – the world’s largest telecoms equipment manufacturer – has made a move into the much-hyped mobile advertising space, teaming up with San Francisco based 1020 Placecast to offer users ads based on their location. Users have to ‘opt-in’ to the service, which enables brands and advertising agencies to push promotions to consumers’ mobile devices in text messaging and picture messaging formats. Mobile operators will take a share of the revenue from these services. The vendor says it is in talks with operators to start trials this summer, but did not identify them. A statement from Alcatel-Lucent claims that the service “can support millions of subscribers – far more than any competing product on the market today – making proximity marketing campaigns for service providers and marketers a reality.” 1020 Placecast’s clients include Hyatt, FedEx and Avis Rent A Car System.

Alcatel-Lucent’s move into mobile advertising is a boost for the nascent industry sector. To date mobile advertising has been a miniscule, though fast-growing, part of the online advertising market. Research firm eMarketer predicts that US mobile ad spending this year is expected to grow 17 percent from a year earlier to US$760 million, compared with a projected US$24.5 billion for the US online ad market.