Instant Messaging: Personal IM VS Portal IM

Given MSN's slow approach to developing the MIM market in Latin America, it will be interesting tosee if Telefonica's strategy of repackaging Personal IM as SMS 2.0 -like they are doing in Spain- will work in Latin America.It is no secret that operators in Latin America have triedfor several years to sign an agreement with MSN for Mobile Instant Messaging with no success. Until 2006, only Movistar Chile and Argentina were able to sign such an agreement and that was for a WAP based solution.GSMA is developing an open solution, with interconnection between operators. In Europe operators have already deployed such a solution, this seems like an appropriate strategy for the Latin American market.GSMA has also stated that it eventually wants to have interconnectivity with portals. This makes us wonder how long can MSN stand the pressure? With two huge groups, Telefonica and America Movil, dominating the landscape in one of the fastest growing mobile markets, it shouldn't be difficult for them to successfully launch an SMS 2.0-like solution that gives subscribers the benefits of Instant Messaging as an enhancement to a messaging solution that has already proven to be very successful and is in need of an upgrade.Operators shouldn't be afraid of the stigma so-called"Operator IM" has. The belief is that to launch such a service,they'd have to "create" a community wheras MSN and other Portalsalready have one.Operators already have such a community, and America Movil and Telefonica each have more than 100M members. The question shouldn't be whether MSN will allow operators access to their community, but whether operators will allow MSN and other portals to enter the mobile arena.