Reliance launches Blackberry

Anil Dhirubhai AG company Reliance Communications became the first CDMA telecom service provider in India on Monday to launch Blackberry, the push mail smart phone from Canada-based Research in Motion.

It is also the first company in India to launch Blackberry 8830 World Edition phone, which provides interoperability on both CDMA and GSM networks for ease in international roaming, company President and CEO Enterprise Prakash Bajpai told reporters in Mumbai.

"We are committed to taking Blackberry beyond e-mail and will offer applications like online stock trading, Blackberry for pre-paid customers and Bloomberg Professional services -- a global service of data, news and analytics," Bajpai said.

Leading GSM network operators Airtel and Hutch are the other telecom players offering Blackberry services in India.

A total of four Blackberry handset models have been launched by Reliance -- Blackberry Pearl and Curve for GSM subscribers, Blackberry 8703e for CDMA subscribers and Blackberry 8830 World Edition, which functions on both networks.

"The Blackberry 8703e and 8830 will be available in 16 cities to start with and will be gradually rolled out across India," Bajpai said. Blackberry Pearl for GSM networks has been launched in Indore, Madhya Pradesh.

He said that world over Averege Revenue Per User for smart phones was 8-10 times higher than normal phones. It could be in the range of Rs 2,000-3,000 in Mumbai, he added.