Vodafone announced an exclusive tie up with social networking portal MySpace on Wednesday, allowing Vodafone customers to interact with the site via their mobile phones.

MySpace already has deals with Cingular Wireless and MVNO Helio in the US and Softbank in Japan, but today’s announcement marks the first extension of Fox Interactive Media’s portal into the European mobile marketplace.

The Vodafone deal may not come as a total surprise. November saw the appointment of Jean-Paul Sanchez, previously Vodafone’s global business development manager, to head up Fox Interactive’s mobile strategy in Europe.

The move sparked reports that MySpace was preparing to expand onto the European mobile scene.

Launching first in the UK, the partnership will enable Vodafone customers to access MySpace Mobile, allowing them to edit their own MySpace profiles, find and add friends, post photos and blogs and send and receive MySpace messages while on the move.

MySpace Mobile will be pre-loaded on selected Vodafone handsets and available for download from Vodafone live!.