Chief Executive Ivan Seidenberg said Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer is due to announce their deal at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Seidenberg, speaking at a Citigroup conference, gave no further details.

The deal follows months of speculation on who would be chosen as the default search provider by the No. 2 U.S. mobile carrier.

Last year, the Wall Street Journal had reported the two were in negotiations and that Microsoft would share with Verizon revenue from ads shown in response to cellphone Web searches. Other reports had said Verizon was exploring a deal with Google Inc.

(Reporting by Ritsuko Ando; Editing by Derek Caney)