BlackBerry launches low-cost plan in 15 circles across India

Smartphone maker BlackBerry Tuesday launched a plan offering all its services for Rs 129 for 1GB of data in 15 mid- and low-revenue generating circles, including Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan, targetting a deeper penetration in these regions.

The monthly plan would be available on the network of Aircel, Idea Cellular and Vodafone, BlackBerry India's Director for Commercial Relationship, Hitesh Shah told PTI.

However, in metros and top four telecom circles of Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka, the plan is limited to use of BlackBerry Messenger only.

"We are trying to get deeper into market with affordable plans. For 15 telecom circles which excludes metros and category A circles, BlackBerry will offer consumer access to all BlackBerry Services for Rs 129 limited up to 1GB," Shah said.

The company will offer all BlackBerry services like to email, BlackBerry Messenger, instant messaging, social networking, Internet browsing, as well as access to theBlackBerry World application store. The plan is for BlackBerry OS 7 smartphones only which include the models launched last year like BlackBerry Curve 9220 (Review | Pictures) and BlackBerry Curve 9320. (Also see: BlackBerry Curve 9320 vs BlackBerry Curve 9220)

BlackBerry 10 smartphones like the Z10 (Review | Pictures) and the forthcoming Q10 (Pictures) are not covered under this plan.

"For Corporate users, in addition to the above services, they can also deploy BES Express at zero cost of Software license to enable corporate email access even on employee owned BlackBerry devices," BlackBerry India's Director for Enterprise Sales, Sunil Lalvani said.

The circles where the plan has been launched are: West Bengal (excluding Kolkata), Assam, Bihar, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, North East, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu (excluding Chennai), Uttar Pradesh West and Uttar Pradesh East.