Wireless Hotmail Access in Europe

Microsoft said Thursday that some wireless phone users in Europe soon will be able to access their Hotmail accounts via standard cell phones.

Specifically, users will be able to receive and send Hotmail messages via Short Message Service (SMS). The service will be offered by a partnership between Microsoft and MIGway, a new joint venture of the Danish TDC Mobile International and the Dutch CMG Wireless Data Solutions.

In a statement, those two European operators said that they, in turn, will make the capability available to 40 wireless operators in Europe.

Microsoft touted the service as both a convenience for users and a potential profit generator for wireless operators.

“We are extending our capability to offer mobile carriers an immediate opportunity to generate revenue based on two-way SMS by providing their consumers with access to MSN Hotmail,” said Judy Gibbons, vice president of MSN EMEA.

The companies said that the service will be trialed by TDC Mobile and by the Swiss operator Sunrise.