The three-year deal with the US adult entertainment company will give access to 13 million images and around 2,000 hours of 18-certificate video clips. Written content will not be available.
Access to the Playboy service will be limited to adults only and controlled by a PIN code.
Christian Salbaing, Managing Director for European Telecommunications at
Hutchison 3G Europe, said:
"The growth of next generation wireless services will be driven by the availability of a wide variety of premium content and by consumer demand. 3 has been partnering with market-leading content providers worldwide and the Playboy brand is recognized globally. We are very pleased to be partnering with Playboy in this segment of the market."
The announcement is part of a package of new services launched by 3 in the UK, Italy and Australia, covering news, sports and entertainment. The company intends to roll the package out in six other countries over the course of 2003.