The provision of Blackberry services has already entered the Ugandan market following the launch of the products by Uganda Telecom and Celtel Uganda.

Uganda telecom (utl) and the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology have already signed a $102,000 agreement to provide BlackBerry solutions to the Government of Uganda.

"As part of the agreement, uganda telecom will provide 100 BlackBerry handsets, push mail services and internet to the Government initially for use during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) summit scheduled for November 2007," said the company?s marketing communication officer Mark Kaheru.

The contract was signed by the Minister of ICT, Dr. Ham Mulira and Uganda telecom Company Secretary, Mr. Don Nyakairu.

"BlackBerry is a wireless solution that enables pushing of email to mobile devices and it is a perfect solution for business and personal individuals who desire mobile connectivity with their office," he told HANA.

He said that with the BlackBerry customers will be able to have access to secure wireless corporate email, update their calendars, setup meetings, access the internet and a host of other solutions using their mobile phones.

"With this service, Uganda Telecom customers will be able to enjoy the freedom of innovative services such as mobile e-mail, with the flexibility to stay connected to work and life whenever they wish," said the company?s secretary Don Nyakairu.

Mr. Nyakairu added that for individuals and smaller businesses, the BlackBerry Internet Service would enable users to manage up to ten supported corporate and personal email accounts, including most popular ISP email accounts, from a single device.

MTN that is scheduled to launch the product early December said that it is designed to enable customers continue to work while they are on the move using a wide range of devices including any 'Smart' Mobile phone , PDAs, laptops and or PCs.

MTN Mobile Office will offer a range of benefits to the end user ensuring efficiency and increased productivity.

Customers will have access to email; intranets, internet, calendars, and contacts at anytime from anywhere within MTN's network.
MTN?s Chief Commercial Officer Erik van Veen notes that "This solution is designed for customers who need to stay connected to their office and digital world 24/7, no matter where they may be."

He adds, "MTN Mobile Office is the most flexible and affordable product in this category because it is not handset specific and requires no additional capital investment on the customers" side.

All that the customer requires is a smart phone for example Nokia E61, E50, E65, Sony Ericsson P990, P990i, Samsung i320, i600, i710, Motorola Q and imate) and they will easily get the service. Most mobile office solutions else where in the world are tied to specific handsets like Blackberry and require significant capital investment in equipment and software. This has limited penetration of such services in the developing World."

Customers will enjoy the service for either a flat monthly fee or pay for only what is downloaded.

MTN Mobile Office builds on MTN's existing GPRS services that MTN customers are already enjoying; using MTN GPRS cards and modems for laptops or desktops.

As we plan to launch the product by early December, we shall have a product that does exactly the same as the Blackberry that include Push Email Service, Calendar, contact synchronization, Access to MIS Applications among others under MTN?s Mobile Office Product suite at no additional cost to the customer.

"All MTN staff use it, all that is needed is that you have a Microsoft Mail server at work which 99% of companies in Uganda do," he says.

Highway Africa News Agency