Vodafone signs up Harry Potter and Looney Tunes

Vodafone has clinched a 16-country deal with Warner Online to get its hands on global entertainment including Looney Tunes, Harry Potter, The Matrix and sitcom Friends.

Neither party is talking about money and details about immediate products are a little vague - beyond the idea that Warner will supply games, screensavers and alerts based on its brands. These will come within the next three to four months according to a spokeswoman.

She said: "This will be more encompassing than a deal with specific brands – it will also include future Warner products."

In the more distant future, Warner will be providing some special, made-for-mobile content which will include some video offerings. The deal covers Vodafone's European operations and Egypt.

Vodafone has also made it on to the shortlist of 11 companies to provide Saudi Arabia with its second mobile network, with the kingdom hoping to raise $1bn through auction-style bidding.

The UK company already has operations in Kuwait and Bahrain but its partner in the Gulf, MTC (Mobile Telecommunications, established in 1986 and owned by a consortia of Gulf states) will be one of the bidders against it.

The winning bidder will have to establish a Saudi company with no less than five Saudi partners and may hold between 15 and 49 per cent of the company.

The revenue from mobile phone services in Saudi is predicted to hit $8bn by 2007. The kingdom has four million fixed line subscribers and seven million mobile subscribers.