The UK’s second largest mobile phone operator O2 has announced that from August it will allow its users to keep keep track of their social networking by converting Twitter updates to text messages.

O2 subscribers will be able to switch on text notifications within Twitter and receive replies and direct messages free. The service will include updates to Twitter as part of a normal text message bundle, or for the cost of a normal text.

Although there will be no extra charge for the service, O2 will impose a cap of 600 messages per month on the new service.

In a statement, O2 said that social networking over mobile is currently experiencing phenomenal growth. The company claimed that over a million customers per month are now accessing social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook via O2 Active.

“We believe that mobile will soon become the most popular way of accessing social networking sites, giving real time access to tweets and status updates wherever you are,” said Antony Douglas, Head of Content at O2.

The company said that the deal between Twitter and O2, which is owned by the Spanish company Telefónica, will be followed by similar deals with Telefónica companies worldwide.

Explore Tech & Web

• Personal Tech

• The Web

• Gadgets & Gaming