BT picks BlackBerry for Europe

BT Group today inked a deal with Research In Motion (RIM) which it claims makes it the first mobile virtual network operator to sell BlackBerry wireless communication devices across Europe.

The deal will see BT offer co-branded BlackBerry 7230 and 7730 handhelds, with integrated email, phone, text messaging, browser, calendar and organiser, to its corporate customer base.

The telco said that BlackBerry's always-on 'push' technology also means that customers do not have to periodically connect to their email to check for new messages, as they are automatically routed to the handheld.

Steven Evans, chief executive at BT Mobile, said: "The fact that this is the first European deal that RIM has done with a mobile virtual network operator is a strong reflection of BT's strength in the corporate mobile market."

Larry Conlee, chief operating officer at RIM, added: "BT has a large corporate customer base with a strong support infrastructure and we are very pleased that it has chosen to offer BlackBerry to its customers."