Date:20/10/2004 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2004/10/20/stories/2004102001100700.htm

Back Bharti offers BlackBerry service

Our Bureau

(From left) Mr. Sunil B. Mittal, Chairman & Group MD, BTVL; Mr Rajan B Mittal, Joint MD, BTVL; and Mr Don Morrison, COO, Research In Motion; at the launch of BlackBerry service in the Capital on Tuesday. - - Kamal Narang

New Delhi , Oct. 19

BHARTI Tele-Ventures, on Tuesday, announced the launch of BlackBerry Wireless Solutions through an exclusive tie-up with Canada-based Research in Motion (RIM).

The initiative will enable Airtel's mobile customers to access a premium range of applications including instant e-mail, corporate data, Internet surfing and a bouquet of personal information management features for a monthly fee ranging from Rs 1799 to Rs 2799. Users will also have to buy a BlackBerry handset, which costs between Rs 18,990 and Rs 32,990.

Bharti has made an investment of Rs 75 crore specifically to upgrade its network to support BlackBerry services.

Mr Sunil Mittal, Chairman and Managing Director, Bhatri Tele-Ventures said, " Corporates will be the early adopters of this technology — bankers, lawyers, people on the move and large corporations will use this service."

Currently, there are over 1.6 million BlackBerry users worldwide.

Mr Don Morrison, Chief Operating Officer, Research In Motion, said, "BlackBerry provides mobile professionals with the best combined wireless e-mail and phone experience. Its unique value has fuelled adoption in thousands of companies and government organisations throughout the world. RIMtogether with Bharti's strong technical and

service capabilities is now aiming to bring the same level of experience to the Indian telecom market."

To service BlackBerry customers, Airtel has set up special technical and sales support teams in 13 cities. The technical teams have been specially trained in UK and are backed by a dedicated `7070' call centre number for Airtel-BlackBerry customers. In addition, potential customers can call at `+91 9871427070' to access detailed information about the BlackBerry service.