The Qtel Group and RIM build on global partnership

Mobilk - Senior representatives from the Qtel Group and Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) met in Doha this week to discuss opportunities to promote new smartphone technologies – such as Near Field Communication (NFC) – as well as innovative new BlackBerry® subscription services to Qtel customers.

Dr. Nasser Marafih, CEO of the Qtel Group met with Mr. Jim Balsillie, co-CEO of RIM; Mr. Patrick Spence, Managing Director, Global Sales and Regional Marketing, RIM; and Mr. Sandeep Saihgal, Managing Director, Middle East, RIM to discuss the expanding global relationship between the two companies.

In recent months, Qtel Group companies including Nedjma Algeria, AsiaCell Iraq and Wataniya in the Maldives have launched BlackBerry services, joining operations from Qtel Qatar, Wataniya Kuwait, Nawras Oman and Indosat Indonesia.

Dr. Nasser Marafih, CEO of the Qtel Group, said: “Our partnership with RIM enables one of the central strands of the Qtel Group strategy, which is to drive innovation throughout our markets, and also allows us to support customer choice. BlackBerry services have made a major difference to our customers in a diverse range of Asian and Middle Eastern markets, and we intend to remain at the cutting-edge in the months and years ahead.”

Mr. Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO of RIM, added: “We are committed to a strong partnership with the Qtel Group across their global portfolio of operating companies. Our close collaboration aims to create value-added services for the Group and give their customers access to the latest smartphone technologies and subscription services.”

In early 2011, the Qtel Group and RIM collaborated in the first innovation symposium of its kind held in the region, which helped define the roadmap for the partnership between the companies throughout 2011.

Qtel Group and RIM also recently announced the introduction of a portfolio of new BlackBerry smartphones, including the BlackBerry® Bold™ 9900, BlackBerry® Torch™ 9810 and BlackBerry® Torch™ 9860. The new smartphones are based on the next-generation BlackBerry® 7 Operating System (OS), which introduces substantial overall performance enhancements including a next generation BlackBerry browser with a significantly faster, more fluid web browsing experience that is among the best in the industry.