All Microsoft employees to get Windows Phone 7 devices

All Microsoft employees will receive a new Windows Phone 7 device, an executive announced Wednesday.

That's right, all Microsoft employees. There are more than 92,000 of them worldwide, about 53,000 of them in the United States and about 40,000 in the Puget Sound region.

One caveat: Microsoft employees will get Windows Phone 7 devices when launched in their market, a spokesperson told seattlepi.com. So, the 53,000 U.S. employees should get them around the holidays, but who knows when Microsoft Latvia employees, for example, will get them.

Andy Lees, senior vice president of Microsoft's Mobile Communication Business, made the announcement Wednesday in Atlanta at the Microsoft Global Experience (MGX) conference for sales and marketing employees. Judging by the explosion of tweets about it, Microsofties are excited.

So, that's 90,000 Windows Phone 7 devices already accounted for. We'll see if Microsoft can sell millions and millions of them.

Alex Johnson of msnbc.com reports, however, that the worlds "free" and "given" never crossed Lees' lips. I'm trying to get more information on that.

Update 4:30 p.m.: Microsoft is giving no information on whether it is giving the phones away for free. Microsoft does have a reimbursement program for employees who use their personal phones for work -- you see many iPhones on campus.

Here's what I've got from a spokesperson:

As you know, employees will be able to get phones as soon as they launch in their markets. Precise details beyond this are being worked out.