Airtel, MSN India and Mobile 365 in partnership to redefine mobile communications

Company release, December 23, 2004

New Delhi

Airtel, India's leading mobile service with a strong footprint in 20 states in the country, today forged a strategic mobile alliance with MSN India, a leading online destination featuring more than 360 million users worldwide, and Mobile 365 (newly merged Mobileway-InphoMatch), the global leader of mobile messaging services.

Under the agreement, Airtel customers will now be able to access their MSN Hotmail accounts via two-way short message service (SMS), as well as send and receive messages using MSN Messenger via their Airtel mobile phone.

With this new service, users of MSN Hotmail will have the option to receive email sent to their MSN Hotmail accounts via SMS on their Airtel mobile phones whenever and wherever they are. They will also be able to reply to those email messages directly to the sender?s inbox using SMS, as well as perform other common tasks directly from their phone.

The 'MSN Messenger over SMS' service is also a form of two-way SMS, which enables users and their MSN Messenger buddies to keep in touch with each other at any time via a PC and any mobile phone that supports SMS technology.

When a user is logged on to MSN Messenger on a PC, he/she can keep in touch with family and friends via their mobile phone simply by creating and saving a mobile MSN Messenger number for each of their buddies.

According to Mr. Atul Bindal, Group CMO & Director, Mobility, Bharti Tele-Ventures, "Airtel is always on the look out for opportunities to enhance the mobile telephony experience of all its customers. The facility to experience MSN services like email & Messenger on their Airtel mobile, will provide our customers with an added advantage, when it comes to remaining connected, where ever they go."

"In India, mobile operators are constantly scouting for new content and applications to satisfy the growing needs of subscribers for information and entertainment. People of various demographics use MSN Hotmail and Messenger to do just that communicate daily with friends, family, and colleagues around the world using MSN Hotmail/ Messenger as a platform for entertainment and exchanging information," said Rohit Dadwal, Head, CSMP, South Asia, MSN. "MSN Messenger/Hotmail access through SMS will give customers a new avenue of freedom, interaction, and mobility," he added.

According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India in October 2004, mobile phone users grew by 1.4 million to 44.9 million, overtaking the number of landlines. Analysts identified cheap rates and a huge youth demographic as key drivers of the market.

"India's nascent mobile market is the world's fastest growing, presenting exciting opportunities for companies seeking entry into the country. The Indian mobile market has evolved from a class service to a mass service for the common man fuelled by continuously falling tariffs, increased coverage, and customized service offerings. As market competition intensifies, voice is increasingly becoming a commodity; service providers need to search for new revenue opportunities to boost their bottom lines," said Matthew Talbot, Managing Director, Mobile 365 Asia. "Being directly connected with more than 150 mobile operators worldwide and having collaborated with more than 450 global brands, we believe that mobile messaging (SMS and MMS), music, games, and entertainment will continue to be the key revenue drivers in the next few years."

About Bharti Tele-Ventures

Bharti Tele-Ventures is one of India's leading private sector provider of Tele-communications services with an aggregate of 10.2 million customers as of end of November 2004, consisting of over 9.41 million mobile customers. The company today offers mobile services in 19 out of 23 circles in India. The company also provides fixed - line services and Internet access over DSL in 5 circles. The company complements its mobile and fixed-line services with national and international long distance services. The company also has a submarine cable landing station at Chennai, which connects the submarine cable connecting Chennai and Singapore. The company provides reliable end-to-end data and enterprise services to the corporate customers by leveraging its nationwide fibre optic backbone, last mile connectivity in fixed-line and mobile circles, VSATs, ISP and international bandwidth access through the gateways and landing station.

For more information, visit www.bhartiteleventures.com

About MSN

MSN is the world's most popular destination on the Web, attracting more than 360 million visitors per month. Available in 34 markets and 18 languages, MSN provides consumers with their home on the Web. MSN is a world leader in delivering Web services to consumers and digital marketing solutions to businesses worldwide. MSN is located on the Web at http://www.msn.com. MSN worldwide sites are located at http://www.msn.com/worldwide.ashx.

In Singapore, MSN is located at www.msn.com.sg.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software any time, any place and on any device.

Microsoft and MSN are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. In the United States and/or ther countries. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

About Mobile 365

Mobile 365, created by the merger of InphoMatch and Mobileway, is the global leader in mobile data services. Mobile 365 reliably delivers messages, premium content, and value-added services for the leading mobile operators, content providers, corporate brands, and media companies worldwide. Headquartered in Chantilly, Virginia, USA, Mobile 365 has global offices in Beijing, Hamburg, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, London, Madrid, Milan, Paris, San Mateo (California USA), S㯠Paulo, Singapore, Sydney, and Taipei. Major operator customers include Verizon Wireless, Vodafone, AT&T Wireless, T-Mobile, Telcel, Telefonica, and O2, and Mobile 365 has conducted thousands of mobile campaigns for hundreds of leading brands around the world.

For more information, visit http://www.mobile365.com.

Or VIRAJ CHOUHAN

DGM- Corporate Communications

Bharti Tele-ventures Ltd

Mobile: +91 98186 68081

Email: viraj.chouhan@bharti.com

Pichong Misao

The PRactice (for MSN India)

Phone: +91 11 55646514

Email:pichong@the-practice.net

JEAN LOH

Mobile 365 Asia

Senior Marketing Manager

Phone: +60 3 6203 2713

Email: jean.loh@mobile365.com

JANN YIP

Asian Publicis (for Mobile 365 Asia)

Phone: +65 6455 2812

Mobile: +65 9651 2844

Email: jann@asianpublicis.com