T-Mobile switches on its albums Jukebox.

T-Mobile is putting its faith in the digital albums market, with the addition of download albums to its Mobile Jukebox service.

As of yesterday (Sunday), T-Mobile customers can now download full albums to their handsets, choosing from an initial selection of more than 100,000 titles from all four majors and leading indies. Prices start at #6 per album.

All tracks are dual download, meaning that for each track purchased, T- Mobile will send one file in AAC format to the user's mobile phone and another in WMA format to the customer's PC. Although tracks will be sold with DRM, T-Mobile says that customers will be able to burn the PC file to disc and transfer it to an MP3 player.

T-Mobile UK entertainment manager Gareth Williams explains that he expects albums to give a significant boost to the T-Mobile Jukebox, which has sold more than 1m single-track downloads since its launch in June 2007, quoting Official Charts Company figures which show a 69.3% increase in sales of digital albums in the first quarter of 2008.

"Our research shows that there is a real appetite for albums," Williams says. "The benefit of Mobile Jukebox is mobility; you are not restricted by a Wi-Fi connection. There is a definite role for the spontaneous purchase of albums."

Nokia UK label manager Ben Clarke agrees. "At the moment, full-track downloads are the Nokia download store's main driver, but we expect that to change, ...