Cable & Wireless Introduces Pre-Paid Option for BlackBerry Internet Service in the Caribbean Region

Cayman Islands - Cable & Wireless, a leading full-service telecommunications provider in the Caribbean, and Research In Motion (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM; TSX: RIM) announced today that voice and data services for BlackBerry® smartphones are now available from Cable & Wireless for pre-paid bmobile customers in the Cayman Islands and other countries in the region. This important development will allow bmobile pre-paid customers to make phone calls, send and receive email, interact via social networking, browse the web (including the latest sports scores), send and receive pictures and much more using the BlackBerry® wireless solution.
According to Yankee Group, pre-pay customers account for a large portion of the global mobile market, including approximately 83.5% of Latin America subscribers in 2007. “Cable & Wireless’ introduction of a pre-paid option for BlackBerry Internet Service in the Caribbean is a significant step in extending the reach of BlackBerry smartphones to more consumers in the region,” said Mark Guibert, Vice President, Corporate Marketing at Research In Motion.
“Our customers have asked for this service and we are extremely proud to make the world of BlackBerry available to them. We are also excited to introduce this service to over 1.2 million of our pre-paid users, giving them the ability to stay connected to the Internet and stay in touch wherever they are for a low fixed price,” said Richard Dodd, Chief Executive Cable & Wireless Caribbean.
Cable & Wireless bmobile is leading the industry by providing a pre-paid BlackBerry Internet Service plan to its customers in the Caribbean.
Pre-paid customers subscribing to BlackBerry Internet Service can access up to 10 supported business and personal email accounts (including most popular ISP email accounts) from their BlackBerry smartphone. Customers will also be able to select from a wide range of powerful BlackBerry smartphones, such as the BlackBerry® Pearl™ 8120, BlackBerry® Curve™ 8320 and BlackBerry® 8820. All provide a renowned mobile experience for email, phone, messaging, web browsing, multimedia, organizer and other applications.
The above BlackBerry smartphones also feature:
National and international support with quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE and built-in Wi-Fi® (802.11) with support for Wi-Fi security protocols including WEP (Wireless Equivalency Protocol), WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) and WPA2.Premium phone features including noise cancellation technology to offset background noise, Speaker Independent Voice Recognition (SIVR) for Voice Activated Dialing (VAD), dedicated ’send’, ‘end’, and ‘mute’ keys, low-distortion speakerphone, and Bluetooth® (2.0) support for hands-free use with headsets, car kits, stereo headsets and other Bluetooth peripherals.Easy web access with the BlackBerry® Browser, which includes a “Page View” option that displays a full web page on the screen along with a magnifying glass that allows the user to quickly and accurately point and zoom in on a specific area of the web page.Roxio® Media Manager for BlackBerry®, a powerful media manager application that allows users to easily search for media files on their computer, view and organize them, create MP3 music files from CDs, add audio tags and album art, create playlists and copy or convert pictures, music and videos for optimal playback.A microSD/SDHC expandable memory slot for additional storage, and support for high-speed USB allowing users to transfer files between the handset and a PC at data throughput rates of up to 10MB/sec.Support for polyphonic, mp3 and MIDI ringtones.Support for instant messaging with BlackBerry® Messenger, Google® Talk and Yahoo!® Messenger.Pre-paid customers wanting to sign up for the BlackBerry Internet Service can do so by visiting a Cable & Wireless bmobile store. Payment for the service can be made through the many convenient TopUp avenues and the introductory cost for BlackBerry Internet Service from Cable & Wireless is $5.00 per week until 30th August 2008, after which the cost will be $10 per week.
About Cable & WirelessCable & Wireless is one of the world’s leading international communications companies. It operates through two standalone business units – International and Europe, Asia & US.
The International business unit operates integrated telecommunications companies in 33 countries offering mobile, broadband, domestic and international fixed line services to residential and business customers, with principal operations in the Caribbean, Panama, Macau, Monaco and the Channel Islands.
The Europe, Asia & US business unit provides enterprise and carrier solutions to the largest users of telecoms services across the UK, US, continental Europe and Asia - and wholesale broadband services in the UK. For more information go to www.cw.com.
About Research In Motion (RIM)Research In Motion is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of innovative wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market. Through the development of integrated hardware, software and services that support multiple wireless network standards, RIM provides platforms and solutions for seamless access to time-sensitive information including email, phone, SMS messaging, Internet and intranet-based applications. RIM technology also enables a broad array of third party developers and manufacturers to enhance their products and services with wireless connectivity to data. RIM’s portfolio of award-winning products, services and embedded technologies are used by thousands of organizations around the world and include the BlackBerry® wireless platform, the RIM Wireless Handheld™ product line, software development tools, radio-modems and software/hardware licensing agreements. Founded in 1984 and based in Waterloo, Ontario, RIM operates offices in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. RIM is listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market (Nasdaq: RIMM) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: RIM). For more information, visit www.rim.com or www.blackberry.com.
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