Mar 2, 2011 17:01 GMT  ·  By

Today, Norwegian software company Opera announced the availability of a special version of Opera Mini for Vodafone for the users of mobile phones on Russian carrier MTS' airwaves, offering fast access to Internet for browsing, as well as to favorite web resources. Users can enjoy having number of up to 30 favorite web pages on Speed Dial on Opera Mini, while being able to access them fast on the MTS Internet.

The aforementioned feature was meant to expand the usual 9 speed dial pages that users were able to add to Opera Mini. In addition, they can benefit from a great number of widgets that enable them access Facebook, Twitter and MTS’s Omlet portal even easier than before.

“We are pleased that our partnership with Vodafone brings us the opportunity to offer unique services to our subscribers,” MTS Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer, Mikhail Gerchuk, said.

“The Opera Mini browser is very popular in Russia, with more than four million MTS customers every month using it to surf the Internet. The launch of the new browser moves our partnership with Opera to the next level.

“With the customized Opera Mini’s added capability, we can turn a budget handset model with limited functions into a very capable Internet browsing device. We are confident that our subscribers will get a richer and more convenient mobile Internet experience with the MTS Internet with Opera Mini browser.”

The new version of Opera Mini was developed specifically for Vodafone, in a collaboration launched globally back in 2009. Based on this partnership, customized Opera Mini browsers are being served to Vodafone customers all around Europe, Asia and Africa.

The mobile browser is being loaded on MTS devices as part for the carrier's partnership agreement with Vodafone.

Lars Boilesen, Chief Executive Officer, Opera Software, commented: “Partnering with market leaders such as Vodafone and MTS brings new ideas to our product.”

“MTS Internet with Opera Mini makes it easier to get instant access to a wide range of websites people surf every day. We look forward to making the web lives of MTS subscribers easier with our innovations, to make mobile web usage as easy as turning the pages of a daily newspaper.”

Opera Mini is being used by over 70 percent of Russian users. The browser is the most popular such application in the world, offering increased speeds and savings courtesy of its included compression technology that reduces traffic by up to 90%.

The Opera Mini browser is available free of charge for MTS’s subscribers from m.opera.com.