In an effort to make itself a popular starting point for Internet consumers and providing easy access to services and relevant information Yahoo has agreed to sign a deal with Virgin Mobile. Once the formalities are over, around four million virgin subscribers in Britain would get to make use of “Yahoo-Search” the exclusive pre-installed search service.

Mitch Lazar, the head of Yahoo's mobile operations in Europe, informed a media that the company would continue to focus on investing in the sector. Yahoo's next key target markets in Europe were France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

The Yahoo-Virgin deal will bring the formers’ coverage of the British population using mobile search up to 80 percent from existing 76 percent.

Yahoo may see the opportunity as a battle to win over the rival “Google” after having lost the battle for dominance in the desktop computer search market. Globally, Yahoo now has 70 such partnerships, giving it access in theory to 850 million subscribers.