Mobile network operator Three will block advertising to its customers in the UK and Italy, with a view to rolling out the block in all countries where it operates.
Three is working with Shine Technologies on the ad blocking service, it said.
"Our objective in working with Shine is not to eliminate mobile advertising, which is often interesting and beneficial to our customers, but to give customers more control, choice and greater transparency over what they receive," Three said.
Customers should not have to pay data charges to receive adverts, Three said; that cost should be borne by the advertiser.
Customers' privacy must also be protected from adverts that extract data about users without their knowledge or consent, Three said.
Three and Shine will work with advertisers to deliver a better, more targeted and more transparent "mobile ad experience" to customers, Three said.
Tom Malleschitz, marketing officer for Three UK said: "Irrelevant and excessive mobile ads annoy customers and affect their overall network experience. We don't believe customers should have to pay for data usage driven by mobile ads. The industry has to work together to give customers mobile ads they want and benefit from."
"These goals will give customers choice and significantly improve their ad experience," he said.
Three carries 42% of the UK’s mobile data over a network that covers 98% of the UK population, it said.
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