Rwandatel, the only Rwandan current competitor to MTN is set to launch the BlackBerry solution next month and may be forced launch with affordable cost and flexibility in order to claim a bigger market. Following the launch of BlackBerry solution in the country last week, MTN Rwanda now targets 1000 clients for the product this year.
Rwandatel, the only Rwandan current competitor to MTN is set to launch the BlackBerry solution next month and may be forced launch with affordable cost and flexibility in order to claim a bigger market.
Following the launch of BlackBerry solution in the country last week, MTN Rwanda now targets 1000 clients for the product this year.
The BlackBerry solution brings together smartphones, software and service to allow easy access to email, phone, calendar, web, multimedia and corporate data applications on the go.
It will allow MTN customers in Rwanda to enjoy the freedom and benefits of using a BlackBerry smartphone to stay connected to people and information on the go.
Thembo khumalo, Managing Director of MTN Rwanda, told journalist at the product’s launch and cerebration of the company’s 10th anniversary on Friday last week that they made an investment in excess of $5 million (Rwf2.8 billion) including a $1 million (Rwf557.6 million) guarantee to Research In Motion (RIM).
RIM, a Canadian wireless device company helped MTN Rwanda to launch the BlackBerry in the country.
Khumalo also said that they have reached an estimated 1.2 million clients, representing an excess of 200,000 customers they announced few months ago and that they are targeting two million by the end of this year.
MTN’s launch of the BlackBerry Solution is seen as a strategy for the company to position itself in order to remain the market leader, but the cost at which it is offered may put the success of the strategy to test.
According to company officials, the 3G enabled BlackBerry curve 8320 costs Rwf430,000 while the BlackBerry bold costs Rwf320,000, mainly stirred by the Rwf30,000 monthly flat fees.
The costs are regarded as the highest in the East African region in comparison to Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda which also offer BlackBerry Solutions.
And the only few users from specific countries and network providers such as UK (Vodafone), Canada (Rogers, Fido), Uganda (MTN-Uganda) and South Africa (MTN-SA) can currently use the MTN-Rwanda Blackberry service.
Rwandatel, the only Rwandan current competitor to MTN is set to launch the BlackBerry solution next month and may be forced launch with affordable cost and flexibility in order to claim a bigger market.
MTN Rwanda also announced it would invest $100 million (Rwf55.8 billion) this year to improve service delivery compared to $60 million (Rwf33.5 billion) last year.
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