Rumor: China Mobile, RIM to Launch BIS

CCTIME, 8/25/10

China Mobile (NYSE: CHL; 0941.HK) and Research in Motion (RIM) are reportedly drafting calling plan rates for BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS), providing Blackberry service to individual (i.e. non-corporate) users. Trials have already begun in Guangdong, with two plans priced at RMB 98 and RMB 108 recently made available to GoTone subscribers.

You Zang, administrator of the BerryTimes.cn BlackBerry news portal, estimates there are approximately 30,000 genuine BlackBerries in use in China, along with several hundred thousand grey market BlackBerry smartphones.

Editor's Note: In select cities, some enterprises already act as unofficial wholesalers of Blackberry Enterprise Service (BES) to individual users, but the new BIS service will allow users to purchase service plans direct from China Mobile. Because RIM does not yet have a Network Operating Center (NOC) in China, the new BIS service will not be able to offer Blackberry web surfing, but users will still be able to connect to the mobile Internet via China Mobile's portal.

Keywords: You Zang BerryTimes China Mobile wireless Blackberry GoTone CHL RIM 0941.HK handset smartphone tariffs black market mobile Internet

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