The Carphone Warehouse to offer BlackBerry smartphones directly to customers in the UK

London, UK and Waterloo, Canada (rushprnews) July 15, 2007  – The Carphone Warehouse and Research In Motion (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM; TSX: RIM)  announced July 9th a strategic relationship to offer the latest range of BlackBerry® smartphones directly through its strong network of The Carphone Warehouse outlets located throughout the UK and online through www.carphonewarehouse.com.

Launching across the UK’s 780 stores, The Carphone Warehouse is the only supplier to sell the BlackBerry® solution with activations available on three networks: O2, Orange, and T-Mobile.

With immediate effect, The Carphone Warehouse will stock the BlackBerry® Curve™, the BlackBerry® 8800, and the BlackBerry® Pearl™ smartphones.

The Carphone Warehouse has a presence in over ten countries in mainland Europe under the brand Phone House. The Phone House has an intent to work with local country network operators in France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland to mirror the retail strategy in the UK.

Charmaine Eggberry, Vice President and Managing Director, EMEA at Research In Motion said: “We are very pleased to be offering a range of the popular and proven BlackBerry smartphones directly to customers through The Carphone Warehouse.  Each BlackBerry smartphone offers users the freedom and connectivity of an all-in-one mobile handset with phone, email, web browser, media player and organizer along with access to thousands of applications for work and life.”

Andrew Harrison, UK Chief Executive, The Carphone Warehouse said: “We are extremely excited about this relationship, which we believe will take BlackBerry smartphones beyond the boardroom and into the handbag.  The Carphone Warehouse is the world largest consumer retailer of mobile phones and through this partnership we aim to bring the benefits of BlackBerry smartphones to all.”

The Carphone Warehouse customers can take advantage of renowned BlackBerry functionality which includes push-email, phone, SMS and MMS messaging, web browsing, multimedia, calendar & organiser capabilities as well as access to thousands of business and lifestyle applications.

Connection through the BlackBerry® Internet Service supports up to 10 personal email accounts, including popular ISP email accounts such as TalkTalk, AOL, Yahoo! Mail, Gmail, NTL and Virgin Media. Customers can also connect through their corporate email server with BlackBerry® Enterprise Server, which integrates with IBM Lotus® Domino®, Microsoft® Exchange, and Novell® GroupWise®.

BlackBerry smartphones available from The Carphone Warehouse

The BlackBerry Curve is the smallest and lightest full-QWERTY* BlackBerry smartphone, which comes packed with a comprehensive multimedia suite and integrated camera. The BlackBerry Curve offers a unique blend of communications, multimedia and web features to provide users with an exceptional mobile companion for both work and leisure.

The BlackBerry 8800 smartphone is packed with powerful communications capabilities and yet it is incredibly compact, slim and stylish. The BlackBerry 8800 also includes built-in GPS, BlackBerry® Maps, a media player, expandable memory slot, and intuitive trackball navigation system.

The BlackBerry Pearl is the smallest BlackBerry handset yet at a mere 107mm x 50mm x 14.5mm and weighing just 89 grams. In addition to supporting phone, email, messaging, organiser, web browser and other mobile applications, the BlackBerry Pearl also incorporates a digital camera, MP3 player, video player and an expandable memory slot.

About Research In Motion (RIM)

Research In Motion is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of innovative wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market. Through the development of integrated hardware, software and services that support multiple wireless network standards, RIM provides platforms and solutions for seamless access to time-sensitive information including email, phone, SMS messaging, Internet and intranet-based applications.  RIM technology also enables a broad array of third party developers and manufacturers to enhance their products and services with wireless connectivity to data.  RIM’s portfolio of award-winning products, services and embedded technologies are used by thousands of organizations around the world and include the BlackBerry® wireless platform, the RIM Wireless Handheld™ product line, software development tools, radio-modems and software/hardware licensing agreements.  Founded in 1984 and based in Waterloo, Ontario, RIM operates offices in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.  RIM is listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market (NASDAQ: RIMM) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: RIM).  For more information, visit www.rim.com or www.blackberry.com.

* Keyboard also available in AZERTY and QWERTZ configurations to support different language groups.

The BlackBerry and RIM families of related marks, images and symbols are the exclusive properties and trademarks of Research In Motion Limited. RIM, Research In Motion and BlackBerry are registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and may be pending or registered in other countries. All other brands, product names, company names, trademarks and service marks are the properties of their respective owners. RIM assumes no liability and makes no representation, warranty or guarantee in relation to third party products or services.

About The Carphone Warehouse

The Carphone Warehouse is the largest independent mobile phone retailer in the world with 2,100 stores operating across 11 markets. The company is committed to offering impartial and expert advice on the widest range of the latest product plus unbeatable, aftersales care.

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