Microsoft India is planning to expand its short messaging service (SMS) search services in India. The company is in talks with various mobile service operators including CDMA player Reliance Communications for possible tie-ups.

This will help the company reach out to the large mobile subscriber base in the country. It will soon add advertisements as a new option on its mobile SMS search.

“Currently, we have partnered with Vodafone to offer SMS search services in the country. It is available to 45 million Vodafone users. Our aim is to expand this. Soon, the service is expected to be available to users of the other four major operators in the country,’’ said Microsoft India Development Centre (MSIDC) general manager (windows live platform & services) Gurpreet S Pall.

Developed at MSIDC, Hyderabad, SMS search services help users type a query on their mobile and send it to a number. In turn, the users will receive search results just like that of Internet-enabled mobiles.

“This is part of our Live Search platform based on WAP-enabled mobiles. However, unlike WAP-based platform, SMS services will help reach out to a large number of mobile users who do not have a high-end handsets,” said Pall.

Microsoft had launched Live Search services on mobile in India early last year. WAP technology enables access to the Internet from a mobile phone. With the SMS search, users can search content related to ring tones, wallpapers, images or local information on restaurants and shops.

Microsoft has also tied up with yellow page providers, Infomedia and Indiacom for local data and content. “We use our technology to covert that content into search data so that users can access it on their mobile. Currently, content for search is available in 21 cities in India including Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Chennai and Kolkata,” he said.

With Microsoft planning to add advertisement options to SMS search, users will soon be able to access more information on mobile like on the Internet.

Read more ….