Microsoft offers Hotmail without GPRS

Microsoft India has announced a new service by which Hotmail users in India can send and receive email messages without a GPRS connection. The alerts are sent via SMS and are free of cost. The company claims that the service enables efficient viewing of emails by allowing users to specify the email address or domain from which they like to receive alerts.
Hotmail users need to log on to www.mobile.live.com, feed their mobile number and enter a verification code sent to their mobile to get started, the company said in an official statement.
Out of the 506 million mobile users in India, only 18 million have GPRS on their mobile phones and email access is available to a meagre 4 per cent of the total mobile user base, stated the company release.
“Today, staying connected is very important. We have gone on to integrate two of the most widely used and needed technologies and tools that help people stay connected – email and SMS. We saw a large addressable audience who would require a service such as this to make email available to them while on the go. We wanted to ensure that it’s simple, easily accessible and absolutely free, So now consumers are connected anytime, anywhere and can actually carry their Hotmail in their pocket”, said Prashant Thakur, head, mobile and search, Microsoft India.