MediaCell, which was developed in conjunction with technology firm Intrasonics, uses software in mobile phones to pick up encoded radio broadcasts, recording the station, platform and time whenever the person carrying the phone is in earshot.

Ipsos plans to build a panel of 200 respondents that will run for a year and provide listening data on a daily basis. The firm said that it is also working with leading London-based commercial radio stations for the test – but did not disclose which ones.

The MediaCell technology has already been tested in the US by Clear Channel, CBS Radio, Radio One and Cox Radio, and by radio audience research body Rajar in the UK. A field test in Surrey was also carried out last year.

Rajar research director Paul Kennedy said: “Rajar has maintained a watching brief since it set aside its own audiometer tests, and we will take a keen interest in this new trial.”

Ipsos MediaCT global CEO Richard Silman (pictured) said: “The power and sophistication of mobiles is increasing all the time, even for low-end devices, and we feel the time is right for a new form of audience measurement for radio. I am delighted that our investment in this area has advanced to the final stages of testing and look forward to our first commercial deployment.”