Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) is working with the world's
largest cellular phone service provider, China Mobile (Hong Kong)
Ltd. to launch its popular BlackBerry mobile e-mail services in
China by the end of May, a spokeswoman said Thursday.
"We are now working very closely with China Mobile for the
launch," said Katie Lee, spokeswoman for RIM in the Asia-Pacific
region, in an e-mail.
The deal would make BlackBerry available to the world's largest
mobile phone market, giving RIM a shot at attracting a larger share
of the world's users with its push e-mail services and devices.
The number of Chinese mobile subscriptions reached 404 million
at the end of February, according to Chinese government
statisticians. Over half of Chinese users rely on China Mobile for
their wireless service, a total of 254.9 million as of the end of
February, according to the company. The company alone has more
mobile phone subscribers than the entire U.S.
Lee also confirmed that RIM has no relationship with a rival
service in China called RedBerry.
The RedBerry push e-mail service was announced earlier this
month by China United Telecommunications Corp. (China Unicom), the
country's second-largest mobile operator.
The company said it chose the name in part due to "people's
familiarity with the BlackBerry brand name" which it described as
the most successful application of push e-mail technology.
The BlackBerry service is currently available in several Asian
markets, including Hong Kong and Singapore.
icon.
