E-Plus introduces BlackBerry 7290 and BlackBerry Internet Service for individuals and small to medium sized businesses

EDP Weekly's IT Monitor, July 11, 2005

E-Plus and Research In Motion have announced plans to introduce the BlackBerry 7290 and BlackBerry Internet Service in Germany. Expanding upon the current BlackBerry Enterprise Solution offered by E-Plus, beginning in July, small and medium-sized companies and retail customers in Germany will be able to subscribe to BlackBerry Internet Service on the E-Plus network. With the push-based BlackBerry service, email is automatically delivered to devices so that users can manage their email efficiently and easily while on the go.

The BlackBerry 7290 combines support for phone, email, text messaging, organizer, web and corporate data applications in a single device. The BlackBerry 7290 delivers an exceptional voice experience with quad-band support (operating on the GSM/GPRS 850/ 900/1800/1900 MHz frequencies) enabling domestic and international roaming(i), and also features Bluetooth support for use with wireless headsets and car kits. In addition, the BlackBerry 7290 features 32 MB flash memory and 4 SRAM, a bright LED backlight, as well as an optimized QWERTY keyboard for easy dialing and typing. The high-resolution screen displays crisp images with support for more than 65,000 colors, while offering superior battery life for optimal wireless performance.

For individuals and smaller businesses, BlackBerry Internet Service allows users to access up to ten corporate and/or personal email accounts (including Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus Domino and many popular ISP email accounts) from a single device.

"BlackBerry Internet Service is a hosted service that is the perfect solution for small companies or freelancers who want to remain connected to important communications and information, but might not have resources to implement a new server-based solution," said Uwe Bergheim, Chief Executive Officer of E-Plus. "E-Plus is delighted to be working with RIM to offer our customers the many advantages of BlackBerry."

"We are very pleased to work with E-Plus to expand their BlackBerry portfolio in Germany," said Mark Guibert, Vice President, Corporate Marketing at Research In Motion. "BlackBerry Internet Service will extend the reach of BlackBerry to a wider range of customers through retail channels and the BlackBerry 7290 is an excellent choice for mobile professionals in businesses of any size."

With 9.65 million customers in March 2005, E-Plus is the third largest German mobile provider. E-Plus relies on profitable growth and focuses their activities on enterprise results. E-Plus targets at the profitable groups of enterprise and private customers.

In Germany, E-Plus is one of the leaders in mobile multimedia. With i-mode, they offer a diverse mobile entertainment service for mobile phones.

E-Plus' portfolio of services is getting broader with the introduction of UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System). E-Plus is one of the companies that are going to build up and provide a modern UMTS network in Germany within the next years.