A few operators around the world are already offering MSN and Yahoo messenger on your mobile (checkout 3 xseries), however there's also a lot more that are dragging their heels. From a user perspective, IM seems like the next evolution of SMS, allowing a lot more features, in particular seeing the presence settings of your friends (online, away, busy) but it also comes with a whole lot of barbs for Mobile Operators, which as in most cases such as these are around the charging model for traditional IP services.
IM is more relevant now than ever due to the very fast move to broadband capable networks, however if mobile operators allow you to have IM in its current form, the theory is that you'll stop sending sms messages which generate between 10-20% of total usage revenues for many developed-market operators today.
The GSM Association has a major campaign in-place to establish a GSM operator community standard for IM, http://www.gsmworld.com/personal_im/. The program is about setting the conditions (technical and business-model) for offering IM services to mobile customers. Their basic principle is that with somewhere between 2 and 3 billion people with a GSM phone, they have a bigger community of potential IM users than MSN and Yahoo and therefore should be able to influence the business model.
Many mobile operators don't want to go down the path of interoperating with MSN and Yahoo because it won't allow them to use a Calling-Party-Pays model. This means instead of getting revenue per message they would only get revenue from you connecting to the internet and opening up your IM client. There's not many mobile operators who will happily swallow that, particularly as it will not only be a missed opportunity but also a big cannibilisation of their current sms revenues.
The whole concept of calling-party-pays and how it relates to internet usage/IP services on a mobile phone is a massive issue for the global industry and IM is an excellent, tangible example of the paradoxes hich exist. There are signs however of a shift, whether intential or not with the proliferation of the wonderful new 2gb for $15 usb dongle plans that are springing up everywhere around the world.
Mobile operators continue to fight hard to prevent themselves from becoming mobile-network based ISP's, but I think there's a growing trend in the industry towards accepting this and a focus on getting as many users on as possible, after all its not a bad business! More on this one later.
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