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Microsoft has signed up its first telecommunications provider in the U.S. to deliver Windows Live services to broadband customers.

The company announced a deal this week with Qwest Communications International Inc. to offer co-branded security, personalized home page and e-mail and instant messaging services. Microsoft and Qwest already have a partnership to offer MSN Premium, an e-mail, calendaring, online security and information-sharing service, to Qwest broadband customers.

The partnership is similar to partnerships rival Yahoo Inc. has in place with service providers such as AT&T Inc. and British Telecommunications PLC to deliver its Web-based services to broadband customers. Microsoft is taking the same tack to partner with service providers to find a broader audience and more revenue for its expanding portfolio of online services.

As part of a new agreement with Microsoft, Qwest beginning later this year will offer customers of Qwest High-Speed Internet Service who have Windows XP computers Windows Live OneCare. The service includes firewall, antivirus and backup software, as well as Microsoft's Windows Defender antispyware technology. OneCare also handles routine maintenance tasks such as defragmenting the hard disk and cleaning up unused temporary files.

Qwest also will offer customers the ability to personalize their Qwest and Windows Live home pages according to individual interests using Microsoft tools and gadgets. Gadgets are mini-applications that allow users to access information, such as current news and weather reports, over the Internet.

Through the deal, Quest also is co-branding Microsoft's Windows Live Messenger and Windows Live Mail services and offering them to its broadband customers.

Microsoft unveiled its plan to offer Web-based services under the Windows Live moniker last November in efforts to compete with Yahoo and Google Inc. on the Internet services front. The Windows Live brand has replaced MSN for Web-based services such as e-mail, search and instant messaging; the MSN portal will be a site for entertainment and news content going forward.

Source: InfoWorld

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