MTN pilots BlackBerry with Webber Wentzel Bowens

For MTN customers such as Webber Wentzel Bowens, delivering on their commitment of customer service means enabling their employees to be wirelessly connected to their data network at all times, irrespective of their location. BlackBerry from MTN combines the internationally acclaimed BlackBerry and MTN brands in a unique product offering that not only allows Webber Wentzel Bowens to enable their mobile staff members with an affordable and customized service, but also caters to the needs of their IT department.

BackBerry from MTN affords the corporate customer tight control of budgets through a unique, fixed threshold-based GPRS and subscription pricing model. In addition, it provides the IT department with the ability to centralize administration and control, remotely enforce company IT security policies, remote provisioning of user devices (including the remote scrubbing of sensitive information on stolen or lost devices) as well as on-site and telephonic technical support.

"In order to provide our clients with world class superior business and legal consultancy, our staff need to be constantly connected to the firm's data network. BlackBerry from MTN will provide our consultants that are out of the office, wireless access to email and our corporate data as well as allowing them to make important decisions that are time sensitive on the go. As South Africa's leading legal firm, it is essential that our consultants are provided with the latest and most innovative wireless technologies to provide high-class service to our clients," said Murray Thompson, General Manager at Webber Wentzel Bowens.

BlackBerry from MTN encompasses an inexpensive device (when compared to other devices with similar functionality, BlackBerry costs up to 50% less) that sports a QWERTY keyboard, a large full colour display, exceptional battery life, full phone and SMS functionality, an Internet Browser, end-to-end TRIPLE DES encryption of all GPRS traffic and a Java development environment that allows the extension of applications such as SAP directly onto the device.

"The international success of BlackBerry has been well documented in a host of independent studies and the facts speak for themselves - not only do most BlackBerry users in North American and Europe (over 93%) believe that BlackBerry has increased their productivity dramatically, but users have experienced direct savings in terms of reduced expenditure on PDAs, laptops and dial-up costs," said Farhad Khan, General Manager, Business Solutions, MTN South Africa.

The combination of MTN's unique and affordable BlackBerry subscription and GPRS package and Research In Motion's BlackBerry solution, closely meets the needs of Corporate and SME customers in terms of affordable wireless extensibility. Underpinned by MTN's focus on a unique and differentiated support service, BlackBerry from MTN is a comprehensive and tailored end-to-end wireless mobility service.