Following partnerships in the US with Sprint and AT&T, mobile games discovery service Mplayit (previously Mpowerplayer) has signed its first international deal with Israeli carrier Cellcom.

Its Mplayit Mobile Arcade application expands the opportunity for users to find, try, share, and buy mobile games in a way that's more flexible than through traditional deck distribution.

For example, Cellcom's 3G+ customers will be able to try mobile games online for free in an interface that mimics the look and feel of a mobile phone.

In addition, Cellcom will be able to analyse and tune the performance of the platform and its marketing activities via Mplayit's online analytics dashboard.

Mplayit's services are integrated with social networks like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and Bebo, allowing users to add their favourite games to their profile pages.

Users also can recommend games to others and receive updates on what games their friends are enjoying.

"The rapid growth in popularity of smartphones has raised awareness of mobile games and apps to unprecedented levels. Yet the opportunities for customers to discover and try out the content they desire remain limited," said Mplayit's CEO Michael Powers.

"The web remains a largely untapped mechanism for converting casual browsers into players - publishers and mobile operators are recognising this, and Mplayit is providing the solution."

"This service will give our customers a rich browsing experience and Cellcom an effective tool for converting casual browsers into mobile game players," commented Adi Cohen, veep marketing at Cellcom.