BlackBerry cracks the Gulf

Local IT solutions company Emitac Mobile Solutions (EMS), however, has since teamed up with the Canadian patent holder Research in Motion (RIM) to launch the up-to-date date transfer service for the communication-hungry people of the Middle East region.

“Although the BlackBerry is more common with corporate users in other markets, in the Gulf we expect 50% of our clients to be consumers,” explains Nader Henein, technical solutions manager, Engineering and Architecture, at EMS.

A key feature of the BlackBerry is its “push-email” option — meaning it pulls emails from the server as soon as they arrive, and the device can be linked to either a corporate outlook or any email provider, such as Yahoo! Mail or Gmail.

The service is already available for corporates, but marketing and its visibility has so far been small — but that is about to change, according to Babar Khan, CEO, EMS.

“We launched the service for corporates in spring, but until now we have mainly communicated with media people to promote the BlackBerry. Now we are entering the retail phase, so we will run a conventional TV and print ad campaign, which will enhance consumer awareness, and customers can see the devices at the retail outlets,” he says. “BlackBerry is not just a phone, it’s a service and therefore needs different marketing and positioning than regular mobile phones,” Khan adds. “It has also been very much advertised by word of mouth.”

EMS partners with individual carriers in different markets to promote the BlackBerry service. In the GCC the company has signed up with Etisalat, its sister business Mobily in Saudi Arabia, and Batelco in Bahrain, and the carriers are all set to launch the service for consumers in the first quarter of this year. The mainstream launch will happen in all three Gulf markets simultaneously, Khan says. In the Gulf he expects a “double- digit penetration rate within two to three years of the launch.”

EMS is also in talks with numerous carriers all over the Middle East and Africa. “We have big plans for the entire continent,” he boasts.

To launch BlackBerry initially in the booming Gulf nations certainly makes commercial sense.

“Those in the financial sector could especially benefit from this service, as the results of the stock markets could be accessed faster and at any time. Besides this the key feature is mobility, so its advantages really apply to all industries,” he argues.

“It starts at the senior executive level of organisations, but it’s also useful for small and medium size enterprises, home offices, sales and service teams,” he says. “Besides, there’s the obvious personal reason to stay in touch with family and friends.”

Although EMS is launching BlackBerry in the Gulf States for obvious reason, how useful is it to offer the service in emerging markets in Africa? The numbers of potential users in those markets are obviously lower, but yet various institutions such as governments or multinationals make a viable customer base, Khan reasons. “Many big co-operations already use the service in other countries, and now want to use it in their branches globally,” he explains.

The penetration of ‘smartphones’ — devices that combine a mobile phone with a personal digital assistant (PDA) or other information appliances — in new markets follows a timeline, Khan says. “First customers educate themselves about the product, then marketing and brand awareness really kick in. As a general rule you can say that in the telecom industry, once a technology has proved itself in developed markets, it’s a relatively guaranteed success in other markets.”

In Western markets the BlackBerry is still a rather corporate tool “but many US carriers advertise it very aggressively to conquer the mainstream market,” he adds.

BlackBerry gives the carrier that offers its services a massive competitive advantage, as it is difficult for customers to switch to other networks once they are linked and used to the system, he explains. So why does EMS only work with Etisalat in the UAE and not the new second operator, du?

“When we launched last May there was only Etisalat. Now we have signed up with them exclusively,” says Khan, who is concerned that there may be legal ramifications should the company also allow du to offer BlackBerry in the UAE.

With the outlook prosperous for BlackBerry in the region, why did it take so long to launch here compared to other markets such as Egypt, where the two main operators Vodafone and Mobinil introduced the email phone years ago?

“The launch of the BlackBerry service usually depends on RIM’s capacity for new launches worldwide. Vodafone is a large global operator that introduced the services in all its markets simultaneously. We are the first company that operates as a mediator between two parties, RIM and the operator, so we can skip the queue and offer BlackBerry to our partners straight,” Henein says.

Du, however may still be able to offer the service if it approaches RIM directly, but are likely to have to wait several years to get a license, he reasons.

BlackBerry is the first service to offer a flat rate for users, as opposed to GSM, which is charged by usage.

“We arranged a flat rate of US$50 per month for Etisalat in the UAE, and US$80 per month for roaming. At this rate consumers can mail and attach as much data as they please. The GSM services of the phone will be charged in the regular manner,” Henein reveals.

For corporate users, the service has the advantage that it is backed by servers. Any lost or damaged devices can be replaced without losing data, he explains. Additionally, BlackBerry uses GPRS and not GSM as a network, which makes the device more reliable than ordinary phones. “When 9/11 happened normal GSM services were down, but BlackBerrys worked,” he recalls.

“They are now being used by fire and police services, during hurricanes and other public emergencies,” he adds.

EMS is offering a whole range of support services for the launch.

“Our approach is to firstly provide the technological set up, then develop the portfolio for the provider and create the brand awareness for the carrier,” Khan says. “It takes three months for a carrier to launch BlackBerry with us.”

“For other carriers we offer different solutions, such as support after the launch. In places like Iraq for example, operators are interested in introducing the service but they have problems to find people willing to do the training, we can assist them,” he adds.

As of today there is one BlackBerry model — the 8700g — available for customers in the GCC, but with the mainstream launch the company is set to add the BlackBerry Pearl, a more user-friendly device, to its portfolio in March.

The latest research confirms that smartphones are beginning to move out of their traditional business-user niche into the mainstream. According to research firm Telephia, young professionals in Europe aged 25-34 are the largest group of smartphone users, followed by 35-44 year olds. Young professionals make up 27% of all mobile users, but pose a higher penetration rate of 34% among smartphone users, the research study states. However, the gap is gradually closing between smartphones and general mobile phone users among all age groups, it reports.

The company also says that these devices are predominantly owned by men in most countries: a total of 63% of smartphone users are male. For conventional mobile phones, on the other hand, 49% of users are male.

Additionally, Western Europeans are buying smartphones at twice the rate of their American counterparts, a further report from Telephia suggests.

More specifically, in the last quarter of 2006, the rate of smartphone acquisition in Western Europe was more than twice that of the US. Western Europe’s average rate of sale of the devices is 8.8%, compared to the US with 3.8%. Italy is the leader with 19.2%, followed by Spain and the UK with 9.5% and 7.5%, respectively. France has the lowest rate in Western Europe with 3.5%.

Telephia explains that high speed networks like 3G have been available longer in Europe than in the US.

“To get the best out of these faster networks, mobile consumers are motivated to purchase more advanced devices like smartphones, which provide a better experience with data applications,” the business says.

“Italians consistently spend the most on devices and data usage as compared to the other European countries.

Moreover, Italian internet penetration is less than the UK or Germany, for example, and smartphone devices with advanced capabilities provide an excellent opportunity for content owners to entice Italians to access the Web using their phone,” the report concludes.

Regardless of other markets, once the BlackBerry hits local Gulf markets, it is likely to receive a very warm welcome from both corporates and consumers.