Sprint Nextel Corp. said on Thursday it will partner with MySpace, an online social networking site, to link its cell phone customers to the free MySpace Mobile Web site which is due to launch early next year.

Sprint customers will be able to access MySpace Mobile for free through the Sprint portal instead of typing a URL address, the companies said in a joint statement.

The networking site, a unit of News Corp.'s Fox Interactive Media Inc, launched the beta version of MySpace Mobile and began selling advertising on a number of its Web sites. It allows site-users to receive alerts and access to its applications while on the go from their cell phone.

The Reston, Va., telecommunications company's data customers will also be able to directly link to other mobile Web sites from Fox, including FoxSports.com, Photobucket and IGN.

Sprint and FOX have partnered on mobile content distribution since 2002, when Sprint first began syndicating sports news and scores from FOXSports.com.

Sprint