Blackberry 2001 Annual Report Download - page 13

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European Expansion
In January 2001, RIM announced its first major European supply agreement to supply BT
Cellnet with BlackBerry Enterprise Edition for distribution in the U.K. The supply agreement
includes an initial commitment from BT Cellnet to order 175,000 BlackBerry Wireless
Handhelds
™
with associated software and service. BlackBerry will operate over BT Cellnet’s
new GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) high-speed network.
The GPRS standard and the BlackBerry solution were both designed to enable “always-on”
operation and allow users to maintain a virtual connection to the wireless network. The GPRS
network, which is based on a packet data technology, has been designed as an extension
of the existing circuit-switched GSM (Global System for Mobile telecommunications)
network infrastructure.
The convergence of these technologies has allowed RIM to design the BlackBerry 5800
Series of wireless handhelds to satisfy all the communication needs of a mobile professional.
In addition to email and Short Messaging Service (SMS), RIM will also ship the BlackBerry
5800 Series of handhelds with built-in support for voice. These handhelds will also have
integrated support for Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME), which opens application development
to a large, growing community of Java technology developers worldwide.
RIM has also signed memoranda of understanding with two additional European carriers
to offer BlackBerry to their corporate customers. Esat Digifone (in Ireland) and Telfort
Mobiel B.V. (in The Netherlands) are deploying a nationwide GPRS network in their respective
countries that will support the BlackBerry wireless email solution.
Technological Advancements
Over the past year, RIM has also announced numerous software improvements for BlackBerry.
BlackBerry Enterprise Edition for Lotus Domino was introduced in January 2001. This
announcement approximately doubled the number of potential enterprise customers that now
have the ability to stay wirelessly connected to their corporate email through BlackBerry.
It also was the first wireless handheld solution to offer tight integration with Lotus Notes
and Domino together with end-to-end security and ‘Always On,
Always Connected®’operation. BlackBerry Enterprise Edition for
Lotus Domino has already been recognized for its usability and
integration with Lotus Domino by receiving the Editor’s Choice Gold
Award from Lotus Advisor Magazine.
2001 Annual Report >Research In Motion Limited
“Research In Motion
did a great job creating
a wireless phenomenon.
Now it has a base to
build from.”
Fortune
>11