Telecom Argentina, Research In Motion Open BlackBerry Service"

BUENOS AIRES -(Dow Jones)- Research In Motion and Telecom Personal, the mobile subsidiary of Telecom Argentina, are launching the wireless BlackBerry platform in Argentina, the two companies announced in a joint statement Friday.

Personal is the country's first mobile phone company to roll out the wireless system and will offer two BlackBerry devices, as well as services geared toward corporate clients.

The launch comes amid fierce competition among Argentina's three wireless operators, which have spent much of the last year investing in network infrastructure and rolling out new services and products. Movistar, which belongs to Spain's Telefonica Moviles, began offering a new push-to-talk service in Argentina two weeks ago, following a similar launch by CTI Movil in late 2004. Personal is the only cellular provider without push-to-talk service.

Telecom Argentina had 5.3 million wireless subscribers at the end of the third quarter ended Sept. 30. The company's focus is to capture higher revenue from clients rather than aggressively seek greater market share. Executives' efforts have thus been concentrated on shifting customers from pre-paid phone cards to billed accounts, which are more stable and generate higher revenue.

The BlackBerry launch is also a move to capture more corporate clientele, a segment that the traditionally belonged to Movicom BellSouth - the wireless provider that merged with Telefonica's cellular subsidiary to form Movistar.

-By Wailin Wong, Dow Jones Newswires; 5411-4311-3125; wailin.wong@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires "

Posted to the site on 28th November 2005