With the introduction of BlackBerry Connect in the country, Airtel and Research In Motion (RIM) plan to extend BlackBerry wireless services to the Nokia 9300 smartphone, Nokia 9500 Communicator and Sony Ericsson P910i. Airtel's BlackBerry portfolio will also include BlackBerry 7290 and BlackBerry 7100g.

With this move, Airtel intends to offer customers a wider range of BlackBerry-enabled devices to suit their varying needs and preferences. The company also aims to provide IT departments, the added advantage of being able to support multiple-device types with the existing security and infrastructure.

Users of the Nokia 9300 smartphone, Nokia 9500 Communicator and Sony Ericsson P910i will now be able to enjoy features such as push-based BlackBerry e-mail delivery, attachment viewing, wireless e-mail synchronization, as also remote address look-up, policy enforcement, IT commands, Triple DES encryption and Wireless calendar synchronization.

Airtel has made BlackBerry Services available exclusively for its customers, starting at Rs 499 per month. Corporate and SME customers can opt for the unlimited data monthly rental plan of Rs 899 per month. For prosumers, this plan would cost Rs 1099 per month.

The BlackBerry Internet Service will allow smaller businesses and individuals, access of up to 10 e-mail accounts from a single device. For corporate customers, BlackBerry Enterprise Server software will integrate with IBM Lotus Domino, Novell GroupWise and Microsoft Exchange, and work with existing enterprise systems to facilitate push-based, wireless access to e-mail and other corporate data.

The Nokia 9300 smartphone is available for Rs 29,000, the Nokia 9500
Communicator is priced at Rs 34,500 and the Sony Ericsson P910i is available for Rs 27,995.

Manoj Kohli, president - mobility, Bharti Tele-Ventures, said, "Email continues to be a key communication medium and research indicates that the first application most mobile users like to see integrated into their mobile phones is their email. Emails also have one of the greatest impacts on productivity. A constantly widening group of mobile professionals have already recognized the productivity benefits of BlackBerry. Our announcement today of extending the BlackBerry service to a much wider range of new and stylish mobile phone handsets, allows us to address the needs of a broader target group of mobile users, thereby further catalyzing the adoption and usage of BlackBerry in India."

Chakrapani GK, country manager - enterprise solutions, Nokia India, said, "The availability of BlackBerry services to Nokia's high-end enterprise devices, marks the convergence of two eagerly anticipated, business focused wireless products. The growth in demand for mobility solutions has substantially expanded over the last couple of years, and by offering BlackBerry on our smartphones, we are offering a truly powerful tool, complete with voice and data solutions, both for business and individual users."

Sudhin Mathur, general manager, Sony Ericsson India, said, "We're delighted to be adding BlackBerry to the palette of solutions we support with our P910i, thereby further expanding customer choice. The P910i smartphone, which is a multi-faceted device offering productivity, entertainment & communications solutions will now also offer this proven, market leading mobile email & data solution. We are constantly seeking to offer our consumer the very best in usage experience through various innovative means, and this inclusion of BlackBerry is yet another step in that direction."