Telecom Lead India: New subscribers of Airtel and Vodafone can celebrate Diwali this year by buying BlackBerry Curve 9220 or Curve 9320 between November 9 and December 9, 2012.
Research In Motion, which did not announce any discount on its smartphones during the festival season, on Friday said the new BlackBerry Curve 9220 / Curve 9320 user can enjoy free BBM service for the next one year.
The only condition: they need to buy BlackBerry Curve 9220 or Curve 9320 between November 9 and December 9, 2012.
The Airtel subscribers can send a text message “BBM” to 543210 for activating the free BlackBerry Messenger service.
Vodafone subscribers will have their BlackBerry services automatically activated in 48 hours after the phone is started with SIM for the first time.
RIM expects that free BBM service will be a big attraction for the young users to look for BlackBerry smartphones. Otherwise, RIM does not have a new phone to offer in India this year. RIM rivals such as Apple, HTC, Nokia, Sony, Micromax, LG and Samsung have launched new phones to woo smartphone buyers.
New smartphones on BlackBerry 10 platform will hit the market early next year.
RIM has already started sprucing its reach in India that has the potential to become the world’s largest smartphone market.
Times of India recently reported that Research In Motion would step up its retail presence across the country to stay afloat in the fiercely competitive smartphones market.
“There is a need to increase our retail presence in the country. RIM has six premium stores at present and the number will be increased,” RIM India MD Sunil Dutt said. Inaugurating the first premium BlackBerry store in Kolkata, Dutt said that all the stores were operated through the franchisee route. The other cities where these stores are located are: Delhi, Gurgaon, Bangalore and Mumbai.
