The Office, Little Britain brought to mobile phones

LONDON - The BBC has struck a deal with mobile phone company Orange to offer clips and ringtones from shows such as The Office, Little Britain and Doctor Who.

Under terms of the deal between France Telecom's Orange unit and BBC Worldwide, the broadcaster's commercial arm, users will be able to purchase ringtones, photos or videos from today.

There has been a surge of similar deals in the last year as mobile phone companies try to build traffic on their expensive 3G networks and content providers like the BBC try to branch out from TV onto new media platforms such as mobile phones and the internet.

Other recent deals include BSkyB's agreement to offer content on Vodafone's network, soon to be expanded to other mobile networks.

"More and more, BBC Worldwide is looking to move towards non-traditional broadcasting vehicles, and this partnership with Orange is a testimony to that," said Jason Blain, BBC Worldwide director of business development.

Customers subscribing to Orange's "Orange World" service will pay £3.50 for a "realtone" taken from one of the BBC shows, £2.50 for a "wallpaper" image, and 75 pence to a pound for a video clip.

Orange also has a deal to offer TV content from Bravo, CNN and several other channels.

- REUTERS