According to a report in the FT Sony Ericsson is planning to announce an unlimited music download service later this month. The service, which would rival the similar offering Comes With Music which was announced by Nokia recently, will be ready for a public launch by Christmas.

Sony Ericsson is apparently in discussions with the large music labels about the service which would be a perfect added value product for it’s popular Walkman phones.Despite producing some of the higher quality music phones Sony Ericsson has seen a decline in market share recently and analysts feel they are now being pushed into the “all you can eat” music service by competitors.

There is no doubt that bundling unlimited music downloads will help sell mobile phones but Sony will have to pursuade networks such as EMI, Warner Music and Sony BMG (current partners in the pay as you download PlayNow Arena operated by Sony Ericsson) that unlimited downloads are a viable business model.

Nokia’s planned service includes DRM so if Sony Ericsson can offer unrestricted downloads they would gain an early advantage over their competition.