ARM Google phone platform demo due Monday: source

By Georgina Prodhan and John Bowker

FRANKFURT/LONDON (Reuters) - British chip designer ARM (ARM.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) will demonstrate a prototype of Google Inc's (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Android mobile phone platform in action next week at the world's biggest wireless fair, a source close to the company said.

It was not immediately clear on Thursday what the working model that ARM plans to show at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona would look like or who would supply the parts.

Google plans to deploy phones and services using the Android platform commercially in the second half of this year.

Google and ARM declined to comment on the report.

Google established an alliance of more than 30 carriers, handset makers, software firms and chipmakers in November to develop Android, which is based on open-source software and designed to make the Internet work better on mobile phones.

Deutsche Telekom's (DTEGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) T-Mobile and Taiwan's High Tech Computer Corp (HTC) (2498.TW: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) have said that they plan to offer phones based on the Android platform this year.

Internet search leader Google's entry into the wireless industry will upset established relationships between carriers, cellphone makers and customers and could challenge Nokia (NOK1V.HE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Apple Inc (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), among others.

Google is also bidding for wireless spectrum in the United States in a move that pits it against entrenched carriers like AT&T (T.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Verizon Wireless (VZ.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)(VOD.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).