The plan was announced during the Microsoft Government Leaders Forum Asia here. The 90 centers will include about 60 existing facilities in countries such as Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, Japan and Malaysia. Thirty new facilities will be built in South Korea, India, South Africa and other countries.

The existing facilities will be upgraded in 2006, and the new ones are due to open during the course of the year, said John Fernandes, Microsoft's director of international business development.

Separately, Microsoft announced plans to invest $1.7 billion in India over the next four years. Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates told reporters in New Delhi that the funds will be spent on Microsoft's development operations and in other areas.

U.K. tax agency shuts portal due to cyberfraud

LONDON -- The U.K.'s tax authority shut down a tax-credits Web site earlier this month, and a criminal investigation is under way concerning possible identity theft, a spokesman for the agency confirmed last week.