It will deploy banners across the Virgin Bites portal. Mobile ad agency Screentonic will provide the platform. Virgin Mobile is rolling out banners ads across its portal, apparently putting earlier concerns aside.

"It's ready to go and we're getting advertisers and campaigns rolling," said John Conlon, head of marketing for Virgin. "We'll be live in weeks."

He added that the MVNO is partnering with Screentonic because of its expertise in rendering and delivering mobile banner ads.
The agency will also sell sponsored keywords to advertisers that want to direct visitors to off-portal sites. It's expected to sell space and links to its existing client base, which it has developed since it began selling mobile ads for rival operator Orange.

"Mobile advertising is a busy area at the moment," said Conlon. "A lot of people are talking about it and we're getting on and are doing something."

Virgin recently announced it planned to introduce bumper ads around its video and games content. At the time, Virgin head of digital services and new product development Nick White said he was sceptical about banner ads because of the small space available on the portal.

It now appears to have backtracked from that stance and looks set to combine content with banners.