BARCELONA, Spain — Feb. 16, 2009 — Today at Mobile World Congress 2009, Microsoft Corp. and América Móvil, the leading provider of wireless services in Latin America, announced that América Móvil will adopt and deploy a comprehensive suite of Windows Live mobile services to its 172 million customers. Windows Live has a strong customer base in Latin America with millions of customers using the services on their PC, including the leading instant messaging and e-mail offerings in the region. Through this deal, América Móvil will make it easier for its customers to extend the Windows Live and MSN experience from the PC to their mobile phone through its mobile Internet browser, text messages and client-based applications.
The Windows Live mobile services included in the agreement are Windows Live Messenger, Windows Live Hotmail and Windows Live Spaces. América Móvil will also feature MSN Mobile and Live Search in its mobile portals. Together, these services make it easier for customers to connect and share with the people they care about, search for important information, and get the latest news, weather, sports and entertainment while on the go.
Customers will benefit from the relationship in 17 Latin American countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, México, Nicaragua, Panamá, Paraguay, Perú, Puerto Rico and Uruguay. Initial Windows Live mobile services are already available for América Móvil customers in Brazil and México and will soon be launched in a phased rollout to the other markets.
“We’re excited to partner with América Móvil to extend the Windows Live experience to such a large portion of our customer base in Latin America,” said Brian Arbogast, corporate vice president of Mobile Services for Microsoft. “Our customers want to communicate and share while mobile via Windows Live, as well as search and access mobile-optimized content via MSN. This partnership will make it easy for customers to take advantage of Microsoft’s great suite of mobile offerings.”
“Extending our partnership with Microsoft is the next step for providing our mutual customers with access to the sophisticated and simple communication tools they want while on the go,” said Carlos Cárdenas, operations director, América Móvil. “In addition, we expect this strategic move will help boost our average revenue per user.”
About América Móvil
América Móvil is the leading provider of wireless services in Latin America. As of October 28, 2008, it had 172.6 million wireless subscribers and 3.9 million landlines in the Americas.
About Windows Live
More than 500 million customers around the world rely on Windows Live for sharing e-mail, messaging, photos and files within their networks of friends, family, business associates and more. With localized versions being made available globally in 54 countries and 48 languages by early 2009, the next generation of Windows Live brings enhanced tools to make online activities easier, more integrated and more intuitive. The new Windows Live experience is also enhanced by strategic alliances — with feeds from third-party sites that enable users to stay up to date on what’s new with friends and family and see information from other online services such as Flickr, LinkedIn and Pandora — all in a single set of services where they already spend time every day. Over the coming weeks, the next generation of Windows Live will become available at http://www.windowslive.com.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
Note to editors: If you are interested in viewing additional information on Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft Web page at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass on Microsoft’s corporate information pages. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may since have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/contactpr.mspx.