Lycos, Ericsson Ink Wireless Pact

As each and every portal player makes its mad dash for wireless, Lycos Inc. and Ericsson Thursday formed a partnership to offer Lycos content on Ericsson’s devices.

Lycos (LCOS), which currently tallies about 30 million users per month, will use Ericsson’s mobile infrastructure and handsets. The two companies will coordinate a joint marketing push to telco carriers.

Lycos and Ericsson (ERICY) hope to capture a market share by producing customizable features which allow users to choose the content they wish to receive when, where and how often.

“Our market research shows that users want email, news, stock quotes, reminders and relevant information to their daily lives while they are on the go,” said Jeff Crown, Lycos’ vice president of corporate development.

It’s been a big week in wireless. Just yesterday, AOL (AOL) announced the purchase of text input developer Tegic Communications to support its wireless content plans. Today, British rivals Freeserve (FREE) and BT Cellnet have teamed to offer a similar wireless service.

With the promise of a huge market opportunity, hordes of portals are searching for a mobile phone developer or telco to co-develop wireless projects. Strategis Group predicts that the number of wireless
subscribers will be 530 million in the next two years.