China Mobile, the mainland's largest cellular network operator, will begin a nationwide roll-out of the BlackBerry service this year, ensuring many more corporate thumbs will soon be tapping out wireless e-mail messages on the device.
Canadian firm Research In Motion (RIM), maker of the BlackBerry personal digital assistant and 'push' e-mail platform, and China Mobile will offer the wireless data service in all 31 provinces to an initial market of multinationals.
The announcement on Thursday came about 20 months after RIM and China Mobile signed a memorandum of understanding to deliver the BlackBerry service to the carrier's general packet radio service network.
It is expected to be ready by the third quarter.
'We are looking forward to strong demand and adoption of BlackBerry by high-end business users,' said Norm Lo, vice-president for RIM, Asia Pacific.
'Many business travellers have already been using BlackBerry via expensive roaming services from other markets. There is also significant pent-up demand from multinationals doing business in China.'
