Verizon Deal Shows Mobile Strategy

Verizon Wireless has agreed to adopt the MSN Mobile portal and other wireless data services. The deal is part of a long-term campaign by Microsoft to design new wireless data services—online services delivered to mobile devices over commercial wireless phone networks—that will be more useful for customers and more profitable for carriers. Microsoft will need to work closely with carriers like Verizon Wireless to avoid expensive missteps like those that have plagued its efforts in interactive TV.

Microsoft is counting on wireless data services to help its business grow beyond the PC to other kinds of devices. While the company offers software such as Pocket PC 2002 for portable devices, royalties on these inexpensive devices are modest, indicates Pieter Knook, vice president of the Network Service Providers and Mobile Device Unit at Microsoft. “Services that add value to devices is where the business opportunity is.”

Deal Highlights Communication

Verizon Wireless and MSN have introduced a new service that allows mobile phone users to send and receive e-mail and instant messages, using Verizon Wireless’s two-way text messaging service. Verizon Wireless has also adopted a cobranded version of the MSN Mobile portal (vzw.msn.com), which enables mobile users to view and update Hotmail inboxes and use MSN Messenger instant messaging and buddy lists. The portal also includes specially formatted versions of Web sites, such as MoneyCentral, and allows users to sign up for “.NET Alerts,” text messages informing them of important events such as traffic accidents and stock price changes. (See “.NET Alerts Service Complements SSNS“.)