Levels of MSN Mobile Service

The tiers of available MSN Mobile service depend on the type of phone being used.

One-way text-only phones. Users with data service and a phone capable of receiving Short Messaging Services (SMS) text messages can receive personalized MSN content (such as news headlines from MSNBC), alerts triggered to specific events (such as when a stock hits a certain price), and text messages sent via Hotmail or the .NET Messenger instant messaging service (sometimes known as MSN Messenger). MSN Mobile does not charge users for this service, and no carrier involvement is required. MSN Mobile does not earn revenue from this level of service, but offers it to stay competitive with similar offerings from AOL and Yahoo and to increase the audience for MSN services such as Hotmail Extra Storage.

Two-way text-only phones. Users with two-way SMS capability can send and receive messages through the Hotmail and .NET Messenger systems, and users with Wireless Access Protocol (WAP) browsers can access these services and other MSN Web sites through their browser. Some carriers promote this level of MSN Mobile service—for instance, the carriers might bundle this type of service as part of data packages or include links to MSN Mobile services in the default menus for the WAP browser shipping with certain phones.