BlackBerry In Pakistan
Gone are the days when BlackBerry was not a stylish or ‘in’ device. 
BlackBerry is experiencing explosive growth all over the world and its popularity is rising in Pakistan too. Currently Mobilink offers BlackBerry service in Pakistan. Ufone has announced that it will soon offer BlackBerry service as well.
On Mobilink’s site the most interesting part for me was the testimonial page which showcases top industrialists in Pakistan. According to news Pakistani politicians are not behind… some have already been known to use their BlackBerry in public.
For those travelling from abroad to Pakistan who want to continue using their BlackBerry in Pakistan, it is best to get roaming service from their provider. Talk with your service provider for details. For instance T-mobile charges $20 per month for roaming data service outside US. Remember to get the roaming activated for both data separately otherwise you may have international calls but no email.
In an interesting marketing move Mobilink partnered with LUMS (Lahore University Of Management Sciences) and offered Blackberry service to staff and students. I assume its either free or at a nominal cost – please correct me if I am wrong. There is a fine line between academia and industry cooperation and this came under some criticism as some people did not think it was appropriate for LUMS to enter into such partnership. However the counterpoint is explained here:
Dr. Syed Zahoor Hassan, Vice Chancellor LUMS appreciated the offer made to LUMS by Mobilink. He opined, “Exposure of faculty, staff, and students to an integrated wireless solution like BlackBerry would dovetail magnificently with a number of other IT initiatives that the university is undertaking. There is every reason to believe, that LUMS could collaborate with Mobilink in the development of applications for BlackBerry through the involvement of its Computer Science faculty and students.” Both LUMS and Mobilink will harness their respective expertise in developing specialized campus applications that will give mobile access to the university’s existing processes.
On a lighter note see this interesting BlackBerry narrative from prominent blogger Teeth Maestro.
Ever since the introduction of those hideous & ghastly looking Blackberry devices namely the model 7230 which was the first unit introduced by Mobilink in Pakistan a few years back, I used to hear stories that the device alone contributed to a number of wreaked marriages simply because the work email came home destroying any family time with the persistent never ending excuse ‘honey I have to answer this last email….‘, and the emails never stopped coming leaving behind a Crackberry drone.
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