Opera Mini Goes to Brazil on TIM

Opera Software and TIM Brazil announced that the Opera Mini browser for mobile phones would come pre-installed on the Samsung T-459 (Scrapy). The cell phone carrier will offer the handset equipped with the Opera Mini for TIM Internet for all of its subscribers. At the same time, the announcement marks the debut of Opera Mini through an operator in Brazil.

TIM is the first mobile phone carrier in Brazil to offer its customers nationwide coverage. The company has registered a steady growth in the number of subscribers during the past years, courtesy of its focus on mobile Web as a platform for value-added services, as well as due to its strategy, and now it accounts for more than 35 million customers. IE Market research projects that the wireless coverage will grow to over 92 percent by 2010.

“This partnership offers the experience of easy Internet access in Scrapy with Opera Mini. We are working very hard on the development of new advantages for our customers,” said Rogerio Takayanagi, chief marketing officer of TIM Brazil.

This would be the first time when Opera Mini is being offered through a wireless operator, yet the browser already enjoys a large number of adopters in the country. It seems that the number of mobile phone users that enjoy Opera Mini has grown in Brazil with more than 117 percent over the past year alone. The new partnership with TIM Brazil offers the browser company an opening towards consumers that are looking for the best in the Web browsing area.

“The launch of Opera Mini on the Samsung Scrapy (T-459) is the first step in what we predict to be a long and powerful partnership with TIM Brazil,” said Rod Hamlin, VP Sales and Marketing, Americas, Opera Software. “We are excited to expand in Brazil, a country of seasoned mobile phone users who are ready and waiting for a revolutionary way to access the mobile Web.”