Baidu signs wireless search agreement with China Unicom

Oct. 21, 2009 (China Knowledge) - Baidu.com Inc<BIDU>, the leading Chinese-language Internet search provider, has entered into a strategic partnership with China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd<600050><0762><CHU> , the country's second largest telecom operator, to provide wireless search services to the telecom carrier's 3G mobile subscribers.

Under the agreement, Baidu's wireless search services, including text, image, MP3 and news search, will be embedded in China Unicom's 3G mobile phone modules. It will also provide search functions within China Unicom's wireless Internet sites to cater for the needs of the carrier's users.

However, a spokesman for China Unicom said the deal with Baidu was not exclusive, and Google's services preinstalled in the iPhone would not be impacted by the partnership.

In May, Baidu signed a partnership agreement with China Telecom Corp Ltd<0728><CHA>, the nation's largest fixed-line operator, to provide search services in a value-added service platform run by the carrier.

The search engine giant hopes its cooperation with major telecom providers in China will accelerate the development of 3G services and allow it to provide the rapidly-growing population of mobile search users better access to information, said Ren Xuyang, Baidu's vice president, said in a statement yesterday.