Wheels and deals out of ITU World

Expect to see a lot of Microsoft news this week. Of course, we see tons of the stuff slapped with one of the world’s single most recognizable trademarks all the time, but this week is ITU Telecom World 2006 week.

Microsoft Corp. hype promises “showcasing for the first time [a] full portfolio of solutions and services developed specifically for the global telecommunications industry. …Microsoft is highlighting the broad range of voice, video, data and mobile solutions it delivers to leading service providers today, as well as unveiling new products and initiatives, etc.”

And so from ITU Telecom World today came news that Telenor has become the latest operator to implement the Microsoft Connected Service Framework. Framework is a server-based software product through which operators can deliver, aggregate and manage converged communications services for subscribers. Telenor plans to offer new services to small and midsize businesses, including an e-mail service based on Microsoft Solution for Hosted Messaging and Collaboration, thanks to Framework.

Over at My VoIP News is a report that Swisscom and Microsoft have announced a partnership to deliver converged communications services to Swisscom’s small- and mid-sized businesses. Swisscom seeks to offer its customers “a range of communications that help integrate telephony services with the PC” via deployment of the Microsoft Solution for Enhanced VoIP Services.

Just about two weeks ago, Bharti Airtel entered into a strategic partnership with Microsoft to offer a range of software and services for small- and medium-sized businesses in India. First step in the partnership is an offering of Microsoft solutions for host messaging and collaboration. The companies will also offer CRM, ERP, accounting, unified communications and select Microsoft ISV applications. Services to be managed by Bharti are expected for a January 2007 release. Good news by association came Microsoft’s way, too, last week when Bharti Airtel announced a strategic partnership with Google that will bring Google search to the Airtel Live mobile WAP portal.

The mobile sphere is naturally of great interest to Microsoft and developments for Windows Mobile introduced at ITU thus far include the new Samsung Ultra Messaging i600 device in Asia and Europe, touted as “the first 3G smartphone with support for high-speed downlink packet access and support for … podcasting and RSS feeds.”