BlackBerry in an attempt to redeem its image and regain more mind share globally and retain/grow the one it has in Nigeria has launched the Blackberry 10 mobile computing operating system and it will be available in Nigeria from March 1st from all major GSM carriers in Nigeria, says a BlackBerry official.
In an email correspondence with me, I was able to push some of the questions that have been the concern of many BlackBerry enthusiasts forward and they were kind enough to respond.
In my email to them I asked; “Will BIS work on the new BlackBerry devices running BlackBerry 10 or will it be discontinued?”
Answer: “BlackBerry 10 is a completely new and unique mobile computing experience that is different from the Blackberry Internet Service available on BlackBerry OS 7 ( 5 and 6 inclusive) smartphones. Let us reassure you that BlackBerry OS 7 will co-exist with alongside BlackBerry 10 in Nigeria and around the world, and BlackBerry Internet Service Packages for OS 7 remain available to our consumers in Nigeria. This means that our customers can choose the BlackBerry experience that is most suitable for them.
On what the data services and offering for the Blackberry 10 smartphones will be, I was told this; “Our carrier partners (in Nigeria, that will be MTN, Etisalat, Glo and Airtel) own the proposition in the market and will make pricing and availability announcement very soon for BlackBerry Z10. You may have seen some carriers making pre-order and pricing announcement already… The BlackBerry Z10 will be available from March 1st from all GSM carriers and retailers.”
That answers the question that many of us have asked me. I remember saying that BIS may work on the BlackBerry 10 smartphones. We have the assurance from BlackBerry that the BIS services will still work on old and existing BlackBerry phon that are running BlackBerry OS 5, 6, and 7. BUT, we are going to have to wait for the GSM carriers as they own the proposition and will determine the kinds of data they want to make available to their customers who will be getting BlackBerry 10 smartphones.
March 1st is the date. Then we can all hear from the horses mouth and douse all speculations. But if you go the stores, you are going to see that some retailers are already selling BlackBerry smartphones. That is not uncommon. I walked into a store this evening and saw the BlackBerry Z10 and the saleswoman told me she’s selling for N160,000 for an unlocked version.
To pre-order the BlackBerry 10 from all the GSM carriers in Nigeria, you can do that at N100,000. You do not need to make an upfront payment. If you want to be one of the first set of people to have it, you can go ahead and pre-order (MTN, Globacom, Airtel and Etisalat) . Jumia and Konga also had a pre-order page setup. As at the time of writing, the pre-order page for Jumia was down and Konga has the Z10 for sale at N160,000.
Would this be a BlackBerry moment in Nigeria? Tick tuck!!! let’s see what happens from March 1st.
