Hotmail gets SMS link

Microsoft's MSN has formed a European alliance with MIGway, to make Hotmail available on mobile phones via two-way SMS.

The service is based on the MIGway platform, which has been developed to enable two-way SMS. Users of MSN Hotmail will have the option to receive email sent to their accounts by SMS.

In addition, they will be able to reply to those email messages directly to the sender's inbox via SMS as well as perform other tasks directly from their phone.

The agreement covers 40 European operators, with testing starting in September in Denmark and Switzerland with mobile carriers TDC and Sunrise respectively.

Judy Gibbons, VP of MSN EMEA, said MSN optimistically plans to have the service up and running in the 15 European countries it currently resides in by the end of this year.

In addition she said all users of the service will be passport enabled.

Taking into account next generation wireless devices, Gibbons said: "This is going to be device independent."

The service supports all internet standards, and is focused on all internet applications.

MIGway is a joint venture of TDC Mobile International and CMG Wireless Data Solutions, a provider of messaging offerings for the wireless industry.