Research in Motion Talks Bandwidth Problems; Unveils BlackBerry Enterprise Server Solution

We hear BlackBerry manufacturer Research in Motion’s (News - Alert) co-CEO kicked off Day Two at the Mobile World Congress, held in Barcelona Feb. 15-18, warning smartphone manufacturers to start developing less-bandwidth-guzzling products or risk clogging already congested airwaves.

 

“Manufacturers had better start building more efficient applications and more efficient services. There is no real way to get around this,” Lazaridis said in an interview, reported by Reuters this morning. “If we don’t start conserving that bandwidth, in the next few years we are going to run into a capacity crunch. You are already experiencing the capacity crunch in the United States.”  

 

BlackBerry (News - Alert), it seems, has room to talk.

 

Canaccord Adams analyst Peter Misek reportedly said in an Oct. 26, 2009 report that mobile PCs eat 450 times more bandwidth than a typical cellphone. But BlackBerry cell phones are efficient, and most often route e-mails through the company’s own servers, according to reports.

 

And with today’s announcement of a free BlackBerry software download for Microsoft (News - Alert) Exchange and Microsoft windows (available in March), workers will be able to check their corporate e-mail without compromising security or manageability.  

 

The new BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express software will address two key market opportunities, said Research in Motion. First, the software offers economical advantages to small and mid-size businesses that desire the enterprise-grade security and manageability of BlackBerry Enterprise Server but don’t require all of its advanced features.

 

Second, a growing number of consumers are purchasing BlackBerry smartphones and the free BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express software provides a cost-effective solution to help IT departments to meet the growing demand from employees to be able to connect their personal BlackBerry smartphones to their work e-mail.

 

“Today we are announcing an exciting new offering that further expands the market opportunity for the BlackBerry platform,” Lazaridis said. “In a marketplace where smartphones are becoming ubiquitous, BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express significantly raises the bar by providing a cost-effective solution that allows companies of all sizes to support enterprise-grade mobile connectivity for all employees without compromising security or manageability.”