BLACKBERRY: THE SMART DATA SOLUTION

BlackBerry smartphones are designed from the ground up to be data-efficient – an important differentiator in a market where mobile network operators face a major capacity crunch in the future.

That's according to Deon Liebenberg, managing director for Africa at Research In Motion (RIM), the company behind the BlackBerry solution. Liebenberg says that BlackBerry smartphones feature a selection of technologies that allow them to deliver data more efficiently, offering a wealth of benefits for operators and end-users.

Thanks to DataSmart technology, BlackBerry smartphones can provide four times as much email and twice the Web browsing and social networking for the same amount of data as other leading smartphones.

“The simplest way to think about it is to compare it to zipping large files on your computer. When you use data on a BlackBerry smartphone, it's almost as if the data is zipped up before it's sent or received, so it's smaller and uses up less data,” says Liebenberg. “It is this technology that makes it possible for South African operators to offer flat-rate data plans that allow as much on-device email, Web browsing and social network as you want for as little as R59 a month.”

Liebenberg says that the benefits of BlackBerry smartphones with DataSmart technology for end-users include lower monthly service plans, faster application operation and increased battery life. But the technology will have an important role to play for the telecom industry as a whole as data consumption rates soar.

Liebenberg says that research shows that the rapid growth in mobile data use is already putting cellular networks around the world under strain. For example, a report from Rysavy Research reveals that the US could run out of spectrum in the next three to five years if present data consumption trends continue.

Rysavy's research shows that operators can have three BlackBerry smartphones on their network using the same data spectrum as just one other leading smartphone. RIM's response to this challenge is to keep focusing on the delivery of high-efficiency products and services for a broad and growing range of customers.

Looking to the future, Liebenberg believes the pricing gap between data-efficient devices such as the BlackBerry smartphone and more data-hungry phones will grow even wider as operators incentivise customers to use platforms that place less strain on their networks.

“We are optimistic about the future as we see the industry taking responsibility for capacity constraints - incentivising efficiency through billing and encouraging handset manufacturers to innovate with scalability in mind,” Liebenberg concludes.