CARPHONE WAREHOUSE is in talks to offer a mobile music service on most of the handsets it sells in its stores next Christmas.

The mobile retailer is seeking an exclusive deal with Omnifone, the British firm that has secured widespread backing for its Music Station service, which will offer unlimited downloads for £1.99 a week.

Omnifone is promoting Music Station in response to Apple’s iPhone, which will be launched in America on June 29.

The eagerly awaited iPhone is expected to be wildly popular, but it poses a threat to the mobile companies’ hopes of selling music over the airwaves.

According to music industry sources, the deal that Carphone is considering would mean that around three-quarters of the phones it sells in the key preChristmas trading period would come with Music Station software preloaded. Omnifone claims that Music Station offers ease-of-use that is comparable with the market-leading iPod.

Carphone distribution would help Music Station establish itself as the mobile music standard.

For Carphone, an exclusive tie-up with Music Station would give it an edge over its rival Phones4u. Customers taking a Music Station phone could join any network apart from Vodafone, which withdrew its business from Carphone last year.

Omnifone confirmed it was in the “final stages of negotiations with a major UK phone retailer”, but refused to give details. Carphone declined to comment.

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