Under the agreement, BT will host Inktomi's search data centers at its facilities. Inktomi said that European users of the service would be able to access about 40 million documents related to Europe. BT will also reportedly have the rights to sell and distribute the service.

Inktomi said the deal is intended to increase Europeans' Internet use.

"By providing European Net users with more relevant, localized search capabilities, Inktomi and BT intend to drive the growth of Internet usage across Europe," said David Peterschmidt, Inktomi's chief executive officer.

Other Web-held documents could be accessed from Inktomi's centers in the United States. BT customers will also be able to conduct country-specific searches and real-time translations.

In addition to Wednesday's deal with Inktomi, BT also launched free Internet access service ClickFree, which relies on ad revenue instead of user fees.