Media giant firm Fairfax Media Ltd (ASX: FXJ) said on Friday that mobile users accessing its four online news sites would need to pay some fees within the next few weeks as the company announced the launching of its first subscription-based smartphone applications.

The company said that its four major news sites, smh.com.au, theage.com.su, brisbanetimes.com.au and watoday.com.au, would become available to web readers who are willing to part with their cash but Fairfax chief executive Brian McCarthy assured that the pricing should be attractive enough to encourage projected traffic.

Mr McCarthy said that the decision would signal the shift of the company into requiring fees for its online news content on mobile phones but he is confident enough that the whole package "represents terrific value that smartphone users will find it very attractive."

He said that Fairfax is well aware that early returns on such offerings would be minimal during the initial stage but the company is forecasting that once regular audiences were established, better yields should follow suit.

Mr McCarthy is also upbeat on the company's entry into new digital platforms of delivering news contents as he revealed that up to 40 additional apps were being developed by Fairfax for various smartphone iterations and the popular iPad, all scheduled for released in a few months time.

The chief executive said that the company is positively moving into new channels and mode of content delivery, stressing that the anticipated challenges would always be accompanied by tremendous possibilities "but I also think they will be very exciting times, and we are very well positioned to adapt."

As of 1500 AEST on Friday, Fairfax shares were trading at $1.515, as inched 1.5 cents higher from previous trading sessions.