Singapore's biggest mobile operator, Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel), on Thursday announced that it had signed an exclusive deal with phone company Sony Ericsson to launch its PlayNow plus service here.

To enjoy the service, users will need to purchase a Sony Ericsson W705 handset for between $98 and $298, depending on their phone plan. With the phone, they will be able to access PlayNow plus library of 3.5 million tracks from labels like Sony BMG and Universal, downloading the songs they want to listen on to their computers and handsets.

Users will also get a one-year free data plan, with which they can use to download about 200 songs every month onto their phone, which can store some 4,000 songs. The service will expire after one year, after which consumers will be able to keep 200 of the songs downloaded.

The two companies are working on a way to allow consumers to continue with the service beyond the initial year.

Sony Ericsson's general manager Jack Tan said that he was confident the service will be well received because of 'Singapore's high 3G penetration and strong demand for mobile music'.

Singapore is the third market to launch PlayNow Plus, after Sweden and Switzerland a few months ago. It plans to add more handsets with the service, although Mr Tan declined to say when these will become available.

Nokia launched a similar service two months ago. Like PlayNow plus, Nokia's Comes With Music service is also tied to a phone, but is available across all three operators.

Besides these two services, there are other services like Geetune, which charges customers a monthly subscription for unlimited music downloads, and a-la-carte digital music sites like SoundBuzz.