Sony Ericsson to launch music service

Sony Ericsson will launch a mobile phone service with unlimited music downloads within weeks, the company said on Tuesday, as it competes with Nokia in expanding business beyond the sale of handsets.

Sony Ericsson's Play Now Plus, which will be available solely through telecoms operators, will provide subscribers access to millions of songs, and users can keep up to 300 songs after their 6-18 month contracts end.

"In a few weeks time this service will be available with Telenor," Sony Ericsson's marketing head Lennard Hoornik told reporters as he outlined plans for the launch at a media event in Copenhagen.