One player in the desperately struggling print newspaper industry says it’s turning toward wireless communications to provide content to readers.

 

Cox (News - Alert) Newspapers Inc. today is launching 19 Web sites for newspapers it owns and operates across a wide swath of the United States, including Texas, Ohio and Florida.

 

A subsidiary of Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises Inc., Cox Newspapers includes 17 daily and 26 non-daily newspapers. The chain’s new mobile services are being launched by Waltham, Massachusetts-based Quattro Wireless.

 

That company specializes in mobile advertising, and the Cox official who is spearheading the news organization’s mobile effort said Quattro was selected because of its “increasing leadership in the mobile industry.”

 

“Quattro’s solution allows Cox Newspapers to better expand our reach with the mobile audience, as well as provide for efficient production of our local mobile sites and additional sales and revenue opportunities,” said the official, Tonya Echols, executive director, COXnet-Cox Newspapers.

 

Specifically, Quattro will provide what company officials call a complete package of mobile services including site mobilization through its so-called “Juicing technology, ad operations and ad sales.”

 

The new sites – which already include Statesman.com (Austin, Texas), PalmBeachPost.com (Palm Beach, Florida), DaytonDailyNews.com (Dayton, Ohio) and WacoTrib.com (Waco, Texas) – are expected to help visitors access to breaking local and national news and Quick Search features for accessing local restaurants, events, music, and movie listings, according to the company.

 

“The sites represent a way for advertisers to reach a local and targeted audience on a mobile device,” company officials say.

 

Lars Albright, vice president of business development at Quattro Wireless, said news is a natural fit for his company’s mobile audience, and that its ad-supported platform is a gateway for a new business to make money.

 

“We are thrilled to add the Cox Newspapers sites to the growing list of publishers in our news channel,” Albright said. “Advertiser response to the Quattro news channel has been very positive with particular interest in the local targeting opportunities sites like the Cox family of newspapers offers.”