O2 today announces an agreement with Twitter which will allow O2 customers to receive SMS alerts from Twitter for free from August. The Twitter deal allows O2 customers to receive tweets from chosen friends, @mentions, and direct messages via SMS. They can also send and reply to tweets by text which will come from their bundle or be charged at the standard network rate.

“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 agreements we now have in place with Twitter and the other key sites brings this a step closer, making it quick and easy for O2 customers to access their favourite social networks straight from their mobile.”

The agreement with O2 in the UK will form a framework for future agreements between Twitter and Telefónica operations globally.