Mobile operator MTS Ukraine, Alcatel-Lucent and Research In Motion announced the launch of the BlackBerry wireless solution in Ukraine. Under a distribution agreement with Research In Motion, Alcatel-Lucent will manage the implementation and integration of the solution, as well as provide support services for MTS Ukraine.

"This is a dynamic time for aggressive carriers like MTS Ukraine who are eager to take advantage of market opportunities to deliver converged applications and devices to expand and enrich their service portfolio," said Johan Vanderplaetse, vice president for Alcatel-Lucent's activities for the Commonwealth of Independent States. "By providing end-to-end solutions and integration services Alcatel-Lucent is helping carriers in high-growth economies quickly and confidently extend value-added services, including telephony and Internet, to a large number of users globally."

MTS Ukraine will initially offer its customers the BlackBerry 8700g smartphone. Corporate clients will be able to benefit from the BlackBerry Enterprise Server, a solution that integrates with IBM Lotus Domino, Microsoft Exchange and Novell GroupWise and works with existing enterprise systems to enable secure wireless access to email and other corporate data; while individuals and smaller businesses will be able to use the BlackBerry Internet Service that enables users to manage up to ten email accounts from a single device.

"As a leader of innovative services, we are constantly committed to expand our portfolio of the most advanced telecom solutions," said Pavel Pavlovsky, general director of MTS-Ukraine. "More and more clients in Ukraine would like to get easy access to their emails and calendar information when they are on the move. Launch of the BlackBerry solution in partnership with Alcatel-Lucent and RIM is a good example of international cooperation. It comes in line with our principle 'to give more to subscribers'. We are the first mobile operator in Ukraine to offer our customers this efficient and effective service with advanced security features, which has already become a hit among businesses and individuals and around the world."