Long have we witnessed in Lebanon some sort of Blackberry "mania".
I find the blackberry pretty normal, not very attractive and very poor in applications. The only thing that I actually like about it is its security system; communication between blackberries is encrypted thus making it impossible to what is being said between two users. Most Lebanese Blackberry owner don't even know this security thing and this is NOT the main reason they have for buying one, but they still don't intend to change.
Why is this? It is pretty obvious for someone who knows the Lebanese telecom situation, but it is another thing for those who don't. Lets see "why" in details.
First thing first, in telecom the word "unlimited" is just a word; nothing here is unlimited. We have only 2 mobile telecom company and they don't compete between each others, it is some sort of Duopoly. This will lead to very high prices: Minute Call = 0.36$; SMS = 0.09$
3G arrived only recently so before there was only a WAP service (10$/month for only 25MB/month) and the Blackberry service (40$/month for 100MB/month). These 2 service being the only one with mobile internet people began to buy a Blackberry so that they could communicate between each other almost anywhere, anytime on a constant basis. People in the buses, class, mall always holding their phones and messaging each other. When I asked my friend "why did you buy a blackberry" he answered: "so that I can send free messages".
This is the problem! We don't have free messages nor anything! We have to pay for every message and every call!
Also I must mention that it is the state that imposes such a high price! Like for the internet, the government has a total control on the prices of mobiles services! They are the one imposing such a duopoly. Don't take me wrong I am NOT blaming the CURRENT government but ALL the government since 1993.
Now that we have 3G we still have blackberry but not as much as before, the epidemic has passed!
I find the blackberry pretty normal, not very attractive and very poor in applications. The only thing that I actually like about it is its security system; communication between blackberries is encrypted thus making it impossible to what is being said between two users. Most Lebanese Blackberry owner don't even know this security thing and this is NOT the main reason they have for buying one, but they still don't intend to change.
Why is this? It is pretty obvious for someone who knows the Lebanese telecom situation, but it is another thing for those who don't. Lets see "why" in details.
First thing first, in telecom the word "unlimited" is just a word; nothing here is unlimited. We have only 2 mobile telecom company and they don't compete between each others, it is some sort of Duopoly. This will lead to very high prices: Minute Call = 0.36$; SMS = 0.09$
3G arrived only recently so before there was only a WAP service (10$/month for only 25MB/month) and the Blackberry service (40$/month for 100MB/month). These 2 service being the only one with mobile internet people began to buy a Blackberry so that they could communicate between each other almost anywhere, anytime on a constant basis. People in the buses, class, mall always holding their phones and messaging each other. When I asked my friend "why did you buy a blackberry" he answered: "so that I can send free messages".
This is the problem! We don't have free messages nor anything! We have to pay for every message and every call!
Also I must mention that it is the state that imposes such a high price! Like for the internet, the government has a total control on the prices of mobiles services! They are the one imposing such a duopoly. Don't take me wrong I am NOT blaming the CURRENT government but ALL the government since 1993.
Now that we have 3G we still have blackberry but not as much as before, the epidemic has passed!
