BSNL launches BlackBerry services

Following up on its promise of third generation (3G) telephony services, state-owned telecommunications major Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd on Friday launched the BlackBerry across the nation in a tie-up with Research in Motion (RIM), the Canadian company that owns the patent for BlackBerry devices.

The new service was launched in Chandigarh, at a function attended by BSNL chairman and managing director Kuldeep Goyal and telecommunications secretary Siddharth Behura.

The 'smart phones' have are priced between Rs14,499-34,399. Goyal told reporters that BSNL would look at selling 1,000 handsets in the domestic market in the next few months.

Introduced as a post-paid mobile service, the facility will carry fixed monthly charges ranging between Rs299 and Rs999 for the Blackberry internet service and Rs425 or Rs875 for the Blackberry enterprise service, depending on the scheme chosen. This is in addition to the voice plan, which customers can buy at existing rates of between Rs225 and Rs725.

"BlackBerry services bring together smart phones and software services to provide customers with easy wireless access to the web and multimedia applications," Goyal said, adding, "This move will certainly strengthen our presence in the Indian telecom market.''

Currently, four private telecom operators - Reliance Communications, Airtel, Vodafone and Tata Teleservices - provide BlackBerry services in the country.

Launching BSNL's service, telecommunications secretary Behura said, "We expect good response from the market, especially from this region." He was optimistic about the growth of the telecom segment in India despite the global economic turndown.

"At present, there are nearly 400 million telecom connections in the country and every month 10 million new connections are being added. Last year we added around 120 million new connections," he said.