Ex-Vodafone CTO Chris Burke, currently working as RIM’s managing director for Europe, Middle East and Africa, will be actively moving towards more prepaid BlackBerry services, eventually encompassing the 8900 and Pearl Flip around the £150-mark for next Christmas. Outlets like Carphone Warehouse and Phones 4 U are likely targets for these kinds of deals. Orange has already been dabbling in prepaid BlackBerry services, but they have yet to really take off elsewhere. With talk about a $5/month basic e-mail plan in the works, it seems to be a likely direction for RIM to be taking, especially in light of more frugal consumer spending. I think it’s safe to say that at least in Europe, prepaid BlackBerry service will make a big push over the next year, but the jump to North America seems a little less likely.
[via Mobility Today]