Press Release: Nigeria’s top-rated mobile operator to make BlackBerry services widely available with three new smartphone models
Lagos, Nigeria – 24 October 2012 – Visafone, rated the number one mobile operator for quality of service in 2011 by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), and Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM), a global leader in wireless innovation, today announced the launch of BlackBerry® services on Visafone’s CDMA mobile network in Nigeria. Visafone is also launching three BlackBerry smartphones, becoming the first carrier to introduce CDMA-enabled BlackBerry smartphones in Africa.
Beginning October 26, all Visafone shops in Nigeria will be able to take pre-bookings from customers for the BlackBerry® Curve™ 9310, BlackBerry® Curve™ 9370 and BlackBerry® Bold™ 9930 smartphones, which will be available in November. The combination of the BlackBerry smartphones with BlackBerry services will give Visafone customers access to email, Internet and social networking apps, including BlackBerry® Messenger (BBM™), Facebook® and Twitter™.
Waldi Wepener, Regional Director for RIM in East, Central and West Africa, said, “We are proud to support Visafone with the launch of the BlackBerry solution to their customers in Nigeria, and to bring CDMA-enabled BlackBerry smartphones to the region with Visafone for the first time. The BlackBerry solution from Visafone offers customers a strong selection of smartphones and a wide range of services that connects them to people and information around the country, across the continent, and throughout the world.”
Mr. Jim Ovia, chairman of Visafone, stated, “This partnership represents a big step forward in Africa’s mobile history and we are very excited to be at the forefront of such a ground-breaking development in the Nigerian market. We have responded to our customers’ demands for BlackBerry services by being the first to provide them with a suite of CDMA-enabled BlackBerry smartphones that best meets the region’s growing mobile needs. More broadly, this launch is a major boost to the NCC’s efforts to achieve growth of data usage and quality voice services to the country’s 100 million active mobile phone lines.”
Featuring the BlackBerry® 7.1 OS, all the new BlackBerry smartphones provide a highly refined and integrated suite of phone, email, messaging, social networking, multimedia, and consumer and business apps to keep customers connected and productive throughout the day. The smartphones can also be used as mobile hotspots, allowing other Wi-Fi® enabled devices to use the smartphones’ mobile network connection to access the Internet.
Information about service plans and availability can be found at:http://www.visafone.com.ng/blackberry/blackberry.aspx
BlackBerry Curve 9310
The BlackBerry Curve 9310 is a slim and easy-to-use smartphone ready to help customers make the move from a basic phone to a smartphone. It supports all the core BlackBerry messaging and social-centric applications that let customers easily connect to the people and things that matter most to them. Running on BlackBerry 7.1, the Curve 9310 features an iconic BlackBerry keyboard for quick and easy typing and a dedicated BBM™ key that supports instant access to RIM’s popular mobile social network. Facebook® and Twitter™ apps can allow customers to easily interact with their social network in real time, and, with the new Social Feeds 2.0 app, they can post updates to multiple social networks simultaneously and capture updates from news sources (RSS feeds), social apps and instant messaging apps, all in one consolidated view. Additional features:
- 3.2-megapixel camera with flash – customers can easily share pictures and video with friends through text, BBM, Facebook and Twitter
- Removable/rechargeable lithium-ion battery delivering up to 8 hours of talk time and up to 18 days of standby time
- Built-in FM radio. Tune into your favourite radio station from virtually anywhere
- A microSD™ storage memory expansion slot supporting up to 32 GB cards
BlackBerry Curve 9370
The BlackBerry Curve 9370 is an easy-to-use, full-featured and socially-centric smartphone. The slim, stylish and simply beautiful Curve 9370 is ergonomically designed with a comfortable and iconic keyboard for fast, accurate typing and an optical trackpad for easy, one-handed navigation. It includes built-in GPS and Wi-Fi support, as well as a 5MP camera with flash and video recording. It is also a world phone that can be used on CDMA and, when roaming, on GSM networks. Additional features:
· Slim size (109mm x 60mm x 11mm)
· 2.44” HVGA + display (480 x 360 pixel resolution at 246 ppi)
· 1GB of on-board memory plus a microSD storage memory expansion slot supporting up to 32 GB cards
· Long battery life, with CDMA talk time of up to 5.5 hours / standby time of up to 14.5 days / video playback up to 9 hours / audio playback up to 45 hours
BlackBerry Bold 9930
The flagship BlackBerry Bold 9930 is the thinnest BlackBerry smartphone yet and the first to offer the perfect union of a high-performance keyboard and touch display integrated within the iconic BlackBerry Bold design. It is a world phone that supports global roaming and comes with Wi-Fi connectivity. It also includes built-in GPS. With its industry-leading keyboard, responsive high-resolution touch screen and support for high-speed networks, the BlackBerry Bold 9930 continues the tradition of delivering the world’s best mobile communications experience. Additional features:
· 115 x 66 x 10.5 mm, approximately 130 g
· 2.8″ high resolution capacitive touch screen display – VGA (640×480), 287 ppi resolution
· 1.2 GHz Processor, 768 MB RAM
· 8 GB on-board memory, plus a microSD storage memory expansion slot supporting up to 32 GB cards
· Bluetooth® 2.1+EDR support
· NFC technology and BlackBerry® Tag, which allows customers to share contact information, documents, URLs, photos and other multimedia content by simply tapping their BlackBerry smartphones together.
· 5.0 MP camera, supports 720p HD video recording
· Orientation Sensor (Accelerometer), Digital Compass (Magnetometer), Proximity Sensor
· Dual-Band Wi-Fi – 802.11 b/g/n at 2.4 GHz and 802.11 a/n at 5 GHz
· Wireless Network support: Dual-Band CDMA/EV-DO Rev. A, Dual-Band HSPA+, Quad-Band GSM/EDGE
· Up to 6.6 hours talk time and up to 12.8 days standby time on CDMA
About Visafone Communications
Visafone Communications Limited, the largest Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) operator in Africa, was incorporated in June 2007 and is currently offering services in 26 states. The flagship shops of Visafone are in 88 locations nationwide including Lagos, Abuja, Port Hartcourt and other cities.
Visafone offers an exciting bouquet of telecommunications services encompassing Voice, High Speed Data (3G), internet and other innovative Value Added Services to individual subscribers. It also offers unequalled business solutions to both corporate entities as well as the Small & Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria. For more information visit www.visafone.com.ng