" ITREALMS: CDMA BlackBerry: Another first from Visafone across MEA

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

CDMA BlackBerry: Another first from Visafone across MEA



The largest Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) mobile network in Nigeria, Visafone Communications, has again become the first CDMA network to offer BlackBerry smartphones in the whole of Middle East, Europe and Africa.

DigitalSENSE Business News recalls that Visafone Communications in partnership with Research In Motion (RIM) launched three brands of BlackBerry smartphones; Bold 9930, Curve 9310 and Curve 9370 respectively, which are to be made available from October 29th, 2012.

Speaking at the formal launch of the devices in Lagos, the Chief Executive Officer of Visafone Communications, Mr. Srinivasa said that the partnership with RIM brings the wide range of smartphones on demand by the Nigerian market, especially BlackBerry.

He also said the unique selling point of the company in terms of the BlackBerry devices and its after sales services is the company’s flagship shops which numbered up to 88 across the nation. And the rating of the company by the government’s regulatory agency, the Nigerian Communications Commission as the number one in terms of quality of service.

“The moment is here to ping on Visafone network,” he declared.

Also speaking, RIM Regional Director for East, Central and West Africa, Mr. Waldi Wepener revealed that RIM chose to add Visafone to its list of partners in the country as a result of Visafone’s good quality of service.

Wepener further disclosed that RIM presently has 5 partners in Nigeria including Visafone as the only CDMA network on the list. He expressed RIM’s pride in supporting Visafone with the launch of BlackBerry solutions to their existing and new customers across the nation.

“BlackBerry solution from Visafone offers customers a strong selection of smartphones and a wide range of services that connects them to people and information,” Wepener said.

According to Wepener, the BlackBerry Bold 9930 on Visafone has a high performance keyboard, a 5.0 megapixel camera with a responsive high-resolution touch screen and Wi-Fi as its special features while the Curve 9310, a 3.2megapixel with an inbuilt FM radio. The Curve 9370 has an optical trackpad for easy and one-hand navigation with inbuilt GPS and Wi-Fi support.

The three devices, like any other BlackBerry devices allow users to easily interact with their social network in real time. They can also support external storage memory expansion up to 32 GB.

The Chairman of Visafone, Mr. Jim Ovia in his address said the network has an amazing call rate alongside its supersonic data experience, and that users of Visafone BlackBerry can roam everywhere in the world which is going to give users an edge.
“This launch is a major boost to the NCC’s efforts to achieve growth of data usage and quality of services to Nigerian,” Ovia said, that the partnership denotes a big step forward in the continent’s mobile history.

Ovia equally said that Visafone has the right strategies in place that would enable to the company to operate in the future, urging the general public to support the merger of telecommunications companies.

According to him, merging of telecommunications companies does not imply that all is not well with either of the parties.

Visafone has some records to its name, from being the first network operator to have 1 million subscribers in 6 months on inception to also being the first to get 2 million subscribers in 9 months in the nation.
 
Visafone is also the first telecommunications company to be Open Market Handset (OMH) compliant and the first to offer prepaid and postpaid roaming opportunity across Africa.

Remmy Nweke & Yinka Awosanya

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