Airtel and Research In Motion Launch BlackBerry in India

Airtel - India's leading mobile service provider and a part of India's largest telecom conglomerate Bharti Enterprises (www.bhartiteleventures.com) - and Research In Motion (www.rim.com) today announced the launch of the innovative BlackBerry® wireless solution in India.

"The launch of BlackBerry underlines our deep commitment to the enterprise and business segments in India. I am pleased to exclusively present the combined power of Telecom and IT through a unique, convergent solution that will change the way Indian business leaders & SMEs manage business communication and their lives," said Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman & Group Managing Director, Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited.

The initiative, a first in India, provides mobile professionals with a secure and integrated, wireless communications solution. Airtel customers can now join the more than 1.6 million active BlackBerry users worldwide.

Don Morrison, Chief Operating Officer at Research In Motion commented: "BlackBerry is designed to provide mobile professionals with the best combined wireless email, data and phone experience. Its unique value has fuelled adoption in thousands of companies and government organizations throughout the world."

BlackBerry will provide to Airtel customers the power to manage their email on the go. Users can read, compose, forward, reply, file or delete messages at their convenience.

Additionally BlackBerry will provide mobile customers with a personal organizer. Airtel customers will be able to access their calendar, address book and task list while on the go. In addition, wireless calendar synchronization keeps customers up-to-date.

The new service includes a variety of Internet services will be at the fingertips of Airtel customers providing them with wireless access to information on the Web.

Bharti Tele-Ventures is one of India's leading private sector provider of Tele-communications services with an aggregate of 9.47 million customers as of end of September ‘04, consisting of over 8.7 million mobile customers.