MSN and Vodafone to Launch PC-to-Mobile Instant Messaging

HostReview.com
Friday, July 1, 2005; 01:23 PM

MSN (msn.com) and Vodafone (www.vodafone.com) announced plans to launch a first-of-its-kind seamless instant messaging (IM) service between PCs and mobile phones. Customers will be able to see the “presence” of their contacts and exchange instant messages between MSN® Messenger on a PC and Vodafone Messenger on mobile phones and vice versa.

The service will be based on the familiar mobile commercial model of “Calling Party Pays.” As they do today, Vodafone customers will prepay or pay for the service through their monthly bill, while MSN Messenger customers will be able to pay through packages available in connection with MSN Messenger.

The service will bring together customers of MSN Messenger, the world’s largest instant messaging service with more than 165 million customers worldwide, and Vodafone, which has almost 155 million customers around the world, as messaging continues to grow in popularity on PCs and mobile phones.

“MSN and Vodafone are working to enhance messaging between mobile phones and PCs, ultimately delivering a richer experience to customers,” said Blake Irving, corporate vice president of the MSN Communication Services and Member Platform group at Microsoft Corp.

“We have brought together two of the world’s largest messaging communities with a first of its kind for both industries — a seamless PC-to-mobile instant messaging service. Vodafone customers will now be able to use IM and its additional service benefits to stay in touch with mobile and PC friends and family,” said Peter Bamford, chief marketing officer for Vodafone.

MSN and Vodafone plan to launch the enhanced messaging service in several European countries before the end of the year.

Vodafone is the world’s largest mobile community with 154.8 million proportionate customers, equity interests in 27 countries and Partner Networks in a further 14 countries.

MSN attracts more than 400 million unique users worldwide per month. With localized versions available globally in 41 markets and 20 languages, MSN is a world leader in delivering Web services to consumers and online advertising opportunities to businesses worldwide.