MTN brings Blackberry smartphones to Cyprus

— Target to reach 2,000 corporates by year-end

 

MTN, the recently rebranded mobile phone operator in Cyprus, has introduced BlackBerry, the versatile smartphone that goes beyond mobile e-mail, in an effort to penetrate the lucrative market of business users in the banking, accounting, legal and shipping sectors.

The former Areeba thus hopes to target some 2,000 corporate users by the end of the year who will seek easy access to e-mail, phone, calendar, web, multimedia and corporate data applications on the go. This can now be achieved in Cyprus where MTN operates a 3G/2.5G network or in any of the 50 markets where it has roaming agreements, including most of Europe, Lebanon, the UAE and South Africa.

The two BlackBerry solutions for corporate or individual use are available on two handsets – the Curve 8300 with large display, easy-to-use QWERTY keyboard and intuitive trackball navigation, and the Pearl 8100 with a small design that has become widely popular with both business users and consumers.

The price for either smartphone is the same, with the corporate package for at least ten users hooked up to a dedicated company email server costing CYP 205,85 (EUR 350,75) per unit and the handset for individual or small-business use set at CYP 228.85 (EUR 391).

“Being away from the office or separated from your PC no longer means you are out of touch, because the BlackBerry smartphone empowers you with real-time connectivity,” said Bassel Jamaleddine, CEO of MTN.

He said that users can now merge their multiple email accounts onto one device.

“Our announcement two weeks ago was more than a brand change. We will be announcing new content services in January,” Jamaleddine added.

Launching the new campaign, “Y’ello”, MTN claims a market share of 16%, rising to 16.5% by year-end, 20% by the end of 2008 and is on target to reach the 25% minimum penetration rate as set by the licensing authority when it won the second mobile license three years ago.

MTN has worked closely with Research In Motion (RIM), a world leader in wireless innovation, to introduce the technology to Cyprus, while the BlackBerry has already been introduced by MTN in Nigeria and South Africa.

“All you need is a GPRS connection,” explained David Keane, Carrier Marketing Manager for RIM, who added that a million users signed up to BlackBerry in the last quarter alone, bringing the number of worldwide users to 11 mln.

He said that the new smartphone replaces the notebook computer and with the right attachments, a user can show a PowerPoint or other presentation through a USB or wireless link to a projector. It can even operate other software platforms such as SAP.

Bruno Stone, RIM’s Sales Director for South Europe, said that BlackBerry is presently supported by 325 carriers in 80 countries.

He said that both handsets on offer by MTN Cyprus have a high definition screen and easy-to-use menu. The Curve 8300 comes with a 2 megapixel camera, 5x digital zoom, built-in flash, self-portrait mirror and full screen viewfinder allowing for photos to be shared easily by email or MMS and can  create MP3 music files from CDs, add audio tags and album art, create play lists and automatically copy or convert pictures, music and videos for playback.