The Associated Press has announced a new advertising supported service for mobile phones. The service will target smart phones such as the iPhone.

The new mobile service will launch this summer under the name Mobile News Network. It will have national and international news from the AP as well as local news from local newspapers.

“The formation of the Mobile News Network positions members to capture opportunities on high-growth mobile platforms,” Associated Press President and CEO Tom Curley said in his report to the AP membership at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

He continued, “members can participate by providing local news that will appear alongside their logos. Importantly, the network also offers a new outlet for members to sell local advertising to the mobile audience.”

The AP will pay for and manage a central facility handling technical and ad-serving functions. Local ads will be sold by participating newspapers while national ads will be sold by ad networks. The revenue split will be 50-50 between news providers and ad sellers.

The network will be the first product to be released by the AP’s Digital Cooperative, a program designed to find new digital outlets for the news and information produced by AP members.

The Associated Press is a global news network, delivering fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats. Founded in 1846, AP today is the largest source of independent news and information, and on any given day, more than half the world’s population sees news from AP.

See the full release here.