Airtel today introduced a new add on plan for existing BlackBerry postpaid customers. For a monthly rent of Rs. 299, which is in addition to the regular BlackBerry plan, a user will be able to enjoy 3G service. So in short, if you’re paying Rs. 399, Rs. 599 or Rs. 898 for the BlackBerry plan, you can add this plan to get unlimited usage on the BlackBerry phone at 3G speeds whereas 1GB of free data if you use BlackBerry as a modem.
Blackberry
Reliance announces Blackberry Tour for CDMA subscribers
Reliance today announced RIM’s latest Blackberry device dubbed as the Tour. Tour is chic looking device, bragging lots of features in a slim 14.2mm chassis. The CDMA powered Blackberry Tour features global roaming, thanks to GSM and CDMA network support and features a vivid 2.44-inch display, 256MB flash memory, full QWERTY keyboard, 3.2MP camera with flash, full HTML browser, GPS, microSD card support and 1400mAh battery promising to give about 5 hours of talk time and 14 days of standby time.
Reliance will sell the device for Rs. 27,990 but for users booking it by Oct 31, they’ll be eligible for two months of free Blackberry Internet Service.
If GSM Reliance users feel a bit left out, there’s some good news for them too. Reliance has confirmed to launch a GSM version of Tour soon.
‘Reliance E-Lite’ plan for BlackBerry users
Reliance Mobile has finally accepted competition and has introduced the pocket friendly, BlackBerry E-Lite plan which offers unlimited access to email and instant messaging (IM) on BlackBerry smartphones for a monthly cost of Rs. 299. Airtel and Vodafone already offer similar plans costing the same. For a complete list of BlackBerry plans and our review, click here
Exclusive: All (GSM) Blackberry Plans reviewed
Ed’s Note: Our overworked brains ditched us. Sorry for the goof up, we have added the plans and edited the story accordingly.
When TeleGyaan did an exclusive review of MTNL’s 2G/3G plans, one of our avid readers voiced his opinion and asked us to look at other operators in the landscape. Given the reader-friendly blog we are, here is a post comparing all the GSM – Blackberry plans on offer::
[Read more…] about Exclusive: All (GSM) Blackberry Plans reviewed
Exclusive Review: MTNL 2G/3G Blackberry Plans
Now that MTNL too has launched Blackberry services along with 3G, here is a quick look at the plans the public operator is offering its users.
Plans for Individual users
BIS 2G Unlimited:
- Monthly Rent: Rs. 1099
- Unlimited data download
BIS 3G Unlimited:
- Monthly Rent: Rs. 3099
- Unlimited data download
BIS 2G Value:
- Monthly Rent: Rs. 500
- Free usage of upto 500Kb (Strange isnt it???)
- Data charges post free usage: 50p per Kb (Expensive isn’t it???)
BIS 3G Value:
- Monthly Rent: Rs. 1,500
- Free usage of upto 1,000Kb (Strange isn’t it???)
- Data charges post free usage: 30p per Kb (Expensive isn’t it???)
[Read more…] about Exclusive Review: MTNL 2G/3G Blackberry Plans
MTNL launches Blackberry services in Delhi
TeleGyaan recently brought you a post on BSNL coming out with Blackberry services in April. Now it’s the other public operators turn to offer the same. Yes, MTNL announced the launch of Blackberry services in Delhi yesterday. The service will be made available through MTNL’s postpaid arm – Dolphin.
As for the phone, the operator will be selling the Blackberry Bold as a part of its initial offerings. Also the operator is trying to take due advantage of the 3G spectrum, by offering this 3G enabled phone. This will give both the operators an edge over others. Along with the above phone, MTNL will also be offering Blackberry Curve 8310/20 and Blackberry 8700. The prices of these handsets are:
- Blackberry Bold: Rs. 34,000
- Blackberry Curve 8310/8320: Rs.24,000
- Blackberry 8700G: Rs.14,000
We Say: Reiterating the fact, the two public operators will have an edge over other players as they will be offering the Blackberry service along with 3G to users. However, it solely depends on the plans being offered by MTNL and BSNL.
BSNL to offer Blackberry services from April
State-owner telco – BSNL is expected to offer Blackberry services from April. This move would help the operator gain an edge over the others. Here’s how::
- BSNL is one of the two operators offering 3G services in the country.
- The other operators which provide Blackberry services, are in the queue to bid for 3G, which is not expected to take place soon…
- Thus, lau, nching the service in April could give it a first-mover advantage in the Blackberry-3G zone.
However, the user base for the service is quite small and with Airtel and Vodafone providing ‘killer’ plans for Blackberry users, BSNL might just find it tough to compete against the private telcos. We expect BSNL to come up with some equally good plans to counter competition.
Idea Cellular – newest entrant to BlackBerry solutions
Idea Cellular becomes the sixth Indian operator to join the BlackBerry bandwagon on announcement of its tie-up with Canada based Research in Motion (RIM) to offer the latter’s BlackBerry services.
With this launch, Idea plans to facilitate its subscribers with the best technology currently available in the Indian GSM market. An Idea Cellular subscriber can now enjoy services which are at par with other GSM subscribers. “With BlackBerry solution, Idea customers can now stay connected and access information in a timely manner, thus increasing productivity and contributing to a better work-life balance,” said Idea CMO Pradeep Shrivastava.
Blackberry portfolio includes phones like 8700G, 8100/8110, 8310, 8820 and 8900.
BlackBerry smartphones will be available at all Idea stores, modern trade, and multi-brand outlets across 15 circles of Idea Cellular’s network.
Airtel brings unlimited email plan for Blackberry users
Airtel and Blackberry makers, RIM have announced a new plan specifically for India. The plan dubbed as BlackBerry Personal Mail service plan offers Airtel Blackberry users unlimited email and instant messaging services for just Rs. 499.
However, before you jump with joy, let me clarify it again – its “Unlimited email and instant messaging”. In other words, you don’t have unlimited internet browsing but only IM and push email service.
Features:
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Users can configure up to 10 POP/IMAP email accounts including free services like Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail etc.
There is no quota on BlackBerry Personal Mail. All emails are automatically deleted after 30 days (that’s from the Blackberry servers).
IM services include Yahoo!, Google Talk and Windows Live Messenger
We Say: Blackberry is all about push emails and I think if the user is looking for emails on the go, this is the thing to go for.
Vodafone’s BlackBerry Storm now on EMI
Vodafone is trying hard to sell the new BlackBerry Storm, the next best thing after the iPhone. It is currently priced at Rs.27,990 and might turn out to be quite expensive, which is why the operator now gives prospective buyers an EMI option. Some of the options are:
- 6 months: Rs. 4,665 – 4,913
- 12 months: Rs. 2,333 – 2,566
The EMI is different as it is currently being offered by 4 banks viz. Axis, Barclays, Citibank and HSBC. For more specifics and break-up of the EMI’s, just click here.