Vodafone Working with Microsoft

Microsoft and Vodafone have announced plans to work together to develop a mobile internet framework. Mobile Web services will utilise existing industry standard Extensible Markup Language (XML)-based Web services architecture to expose mobile network services to the broadest audience of developers. Developers will be able to access and integrate mobile network services such as messaging, location, authentication and billing into their applications.

During a presentation at ITU Telecom World 2003, Bill Gates, chairman and chief software architect of Microsoft, and Ian Maxwell, group strategic relationship director of Vodafone, outlined the companies' vision of providing developers with access to mobile services using industry-standard Web services techniques and tools. Microsoft and Vodafone called upon the industry to embrace this approach to bring about the convergence of PC and mobile applications and services through Web services standards. The companies also announced their plans to detail a technical roadmap of the mobile Web services specifications on which they intend to collaborate and seek industry engagement.

"With the creation of mobile Web services standards, developers and operators will be able to deliver new and exciting services to customers. By bringing mobile services into the PC world, Microsoft and Vodafone are offering developers the opportunity to create greater value services for customers and new revenues," Maxwell said.

"Web services are already redefining the way that customers build applications," said Eric Rudder, senior vice president of Servers and Tools at Microsoft. "Extending Web services into the mobile world is a natural next step. Microsoft and Vodafone are committed to working across the computing and mobile industries to speed the development of mobile Web services."

Posted to the site on 14th October 2003