Vodaphone, the world’s largest mobile operator to over 155 million customers, and Microsoft, have teamed up to launch instant messaging between cell phones and personal computers.

How does it work? Well, users will be able to view their contacts virtual presence and will be able to send instant messages back and forth between Vodaphone Messenger on a cell phone, and MSN Messenger on a home computer.

The user who sends the message, will be the user who is billed. MSN Messenger users will pay from deals available with MSN, and Vodaphone customers will pay, or pre-pay for the service with their monthly bills.

The plan is to launch the service in a few European countries by the end of the year.