Celtel, EMS and RIM have collaborated to introduce the BlackBerry solution to several Zain Networks across Africa and the Middle East including Celtel Kenya and Celtel Uganda.

Celtel Nigeria Chief Executive Officer, Adebayo Ligali commented, “I have no doubt that many Celtel customers have eagerly been anticipating the launch of the BlackBerry solution in Nigeria.” He added, “The tie-in to our recently launched One Network service, which links all of our operations in Africa, will ensure a truly unique offering for our customers. We are always eager to introduce services that will further empower our customers to become more efficient and effective both when they are in the traditional work or business environment and outside the office or in remote locations. The BlackBerry solution will give our customers greater control of their lives and time and help them keep connected to people and information when they are on the move.”

Charmaine Eggberry, Vice President and Managing Director, EMEA at RIM added: “We are pleased to be working with Celtel and EMS to bring the benefits of the BlackBerry solution to Celtel customers in Nigeria. The BlackBerry solution is acclaimed by organisations and individuals around the world for its empowering quality that enables people to stay connected to the people and information that matter most.”

Emitac Mobile Solution (EMS), RIM's strategic channel partner in the region, will be working hand in hand with Celtel Nigeria to deliver a compelling customer proposition. “We are extremely pleased to partner with Celtel Nigeria to deliver an unrivalled experience to their customers providing a leading and complete wireless solution,” said Babar Khan, CEO of EMS. “We believe that the market in Nigeria will respond positively to the BlackBerry solution and our intention is to continue supporting Celtel in developing and expanding their range of BlackBerry solutions.”

BlackBerry smartphones available from Celtel Nigeria The BlackBerry Curve 8300 is the smallest and lightest full-QWERTY BlackBerry smartphone, and comes packed with comprehensive multimedia features including an integrated camera. The BlackBerry Curve offers a robust blend of communications, multimedia and web features to provide users with an exceptional mobile companion for both work and leisure.

The slim and stylish BlackBerry 8800 smartphone is packed with powerful communications capabilities, a large bright colour display, a high-capacity removable battery, built-in GPS with BlackBerry® Maps, a media player and an expandable memory slot.

The BlackBerry Pearl 8100 is the smallest and lightest BlackBerry smartphone measuring a mere 107mm x 50mm x 14.5mm and weighing just 89 grams. In addition to supporting phone, email, messaging, organiser, web browser and other mobile applications, the BlackBerry Pearl also incorporates a digital camera, MP3 player, video player and an expandable memory slot.

Celtel Nigeria will offer customers two options for services and software.

Designed for corporate customers, the BlackBerry® Enterprise Server software integrates with IBM Lotus® Domino®, Microsoft® Exchange and Novell® GroupWise® and works with existing enterprise systems to enable secure, push-based wireless access to email and other corporate data. In addition to BlackBerry Enterprise Server, Celtel Nigeria is offering BlackBerry® Internet Service for individuals and smaller businesses. This service allows users to access up to ten supported personal email accounts (including most popular ISP email accounts) from a single device.

A number of Celtel networks and other sister telecom companies under the Zain Group, have launched the BlackBerry solution in collaboration with EMS and RIM.