MTS to sell BlackBerries to individuals within two weeks in Russia
MTS, the largest cellular network operator in Russia and CIS, plans to begin selling BlackBerry phones to individuals in the country within two weeks as communications companies compete for wealthy customers.
«It's a niche solution, oriented toward the high-value segment that is interested in innovations and wants mobile e- mail,» Irina Osadchaya, a spokeswoman for the Moscow-based company, said today. «We want to bolster their loyalty.» The BlackBerry, which can send e-mail and surf the Web, is made by Canadian company Research In Motion Ltd., based in Waterloo, Ontario.
Mobile TeleSystems, which already offers corporate BlackBerry services, aims to attract about 3,000 retail clients in Russia this year, the Kommersant newspaper reported today. The operator has about 3,800 retail customers in Ukraine, after starting to offer BlackBerry service to individuals in June.
Russian retail spending fell for the first time in a decade in February and unemployment rose to a four-year high of 8.5 percent. Sales of mobile phones dropped to $819 million in the first quarter, the lowest in five years, Kommersant said yesterday.
Retail customers will be offered BlackBerry Internet service, which allows access to providers of free e-mail and their servers, as opposed to the encrypted channels available to corporate clients, Osadchaya said. Kommersant's report today that the Federal Security Service may have access to servers is «irrelevant,» she said.
«The quality of the service in Russia will be no different than internationally,» Osadchaya said. The BlackBerrys will be locked so they can only be used on Mobile TeleSystems' network, she said.
Mobile TeleSystems now sells the BlackBerry 8800 for about 17,700 rubles ($528), according to the device's Web site. The 8900 model will be offered for about 20,000 rubles, Kommersant said, citing an unidentified company official.
