It’s been a long-time coming, but the big five carriers in the U.K. have struck a deal with the Internet Advertising Bureau to push mobile advertising into a medium that might actually compete with newspapers and television, The Guardian reports. Carriers are beginning to recognize that they aren’t competing with one another when it comes to advertising, but rather TV, print and online properties that still command the lion’s share of ad budgets. Under the new agreement, IAB will launch a mobile advertising version of its twice-a-year report on the UK internet advertising industry and form a mobile steering group. IAB, which has largely been successful in raising the profile, transparency and measurement of the online advertising industry, is now working with 3, O2, Orange, Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) and T-Mobile with similar goals in mind for mobile. Much of the funding for the new initiative will come from the five operators. The IAB is also expected to leave industry standardization processes to the Mobile Marketing Association while it focuses on promoting and marketing the overall opportunity. Guardian reporter Mark Sweney tactfully points out that mobile advertising still carries plenty of hype with “global revenues of anywhere from $1 billion to $19 billion by 2011.”