Following on the recent announcement from RIM that China’s government gave the green-light to bring the outdated BlackBerry 8700 to the Chinese masses, China Mobile has announced that they will be launching the BlackBerry 8700 by month’s end.
TCL Communications, the Chinese manufacturer of RIM’s BlackBerry 8700 said that they’ve gotten an order for 10,000 BlackBerry 8700 handsets from China Mobile, which will be sold under the “Alcatel BlackBerry 8700” branding. TCL owns the Alcatel brand and helped RIM push certification of the BlackBerry 8700 through the Chinese beauracracy. The Alcatel BlackBerry 8700 will presumably be used with China Mobile’s existing BlackBerry wireless plans (available for BlackBerry handsets from abroad). There are two plans offered by China Mobile – one costs RMB 398 ($53.8) per month and the other will run RMB 598 ($80.8) per month.
We’re sure Chinese businessmen will be happy to hear that they can now get an official BlackBerry 8700 from China Mobile. You know, instead of the more advanced BlackBerry handsets that could just as easily be brought in from, say, the US.
[Via: MocoNews]