Vodafone to Offer MSN Messaging Services

Vodafone and Microsoft have announced they are working together to deliver a co-branded Instant Messaging (IM) service that can be accessed from both the PC and mobile phone, based on the Windows Live Messenger platform.

The new IM service will provide millions of customers with enhanced IM communication opportunities and will be launched in select European markets later this year.

The new service means that customers will be able to use the address book functionality and see the ?presence? of their Messenger contacts and exchange messages when these contacts are either on their PC or mobile devices.

The co-branded Instant Messenger experience will be available on a wide range of Vodafone consumer handsets, including those on the Windows Mobile platform, bringing together customers of other Mobile Network Operator IM networks, consistent with last year?s 3GSM announcement (June 2006) on Personal IM .

?Microsoft - through our Windows Live communication platform - and Vodafone are working together to enhance messaging between mobile phones and PCs, ultimately delivering a richer experience to customers,? said Brian Arbogast, corporate vice president of the Windows Live Developer and Communications Platform group at Microsoft.

In June 2005, Vodafone and Microsoft announced the signing of a strategic alliance agreement involving the interconnection of existing instant messaging services from both companies."

Posted to the site on 13th February 2007