Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson and Japan's electronics giant Sony will expand their cooperation beyond cell phones to mobile and broadband TV, an Ericsson official said on Thursday. Per Nordlof, Ericsson's director of product strategy and portfolio management, said the companies will together develop software to link their products through wireless networks.

"There is a strong confidence between Ericsson and Sony after the success of the handset business and we will work to develop software that connects the gadgets in the homes with the outer world," he told journalists at a news conference.

"We see a mass market for mobile TV within two years," said Nordlof, who defined a mass market as 30 percent of users regularly watching television on their cell phones.

Ericsson believes telecom operators will also have to offer television through their broadband networks.

"Broadband TV will be an important factor. Most telecom operators realize they will have to offer TV in order not to lose customers," Nordlof said.

Sony and Ericsson formed a mobile telephone joint venture in October 2001 which has since become the world's fourth-largest handset maker.