RIM also provides an IM service, called BlackBerry Messenger, that allows direct BlackBerry-to-BlackBerry links. With BlackBerry Messenger, communications are possible even if your BES is unavailable; this can come in handy as backup connectivity for emergency situations.
If it sounds to you like RIM has covered all the bases--lots of clients, security, audit trail--we agree. But ironically, BlackBerry aficionados are more likely to be using wireless e-mail than IM.
Price Points
All large U.S. cellular operators have comparable offerings--namely, support for access from mobile handsets to IM service providers such as AOL, ICQ, MSN and Yahoo. What's interesting, however, is service pricing: If you use the operator's IM gateway to access an IM service provider, the operator will charge per message. If you use your own IM client to communicate directly to an enterprise IM server or an IM service provider, the operator will charge based on an IP data plan. If you have a data contract for other applications, especially an unlimited plan, the direct approach should prove more economical.
To simplify pricing, the per-IM cost is typically the same as SMS, $0.15 per message. Any serious IMer will want a bucket plan. As of press time, AT&T (formerly Cingular) charges $4.99 per month for 200 messages, $19.99 for 3,000 messages. T-Mobile's monthly charges are $4.99 for 400 messages, $9.99 for 1,000 messages and $14.99 for unlimited messaging. AT&T indicated that its emphasis to date has been on consumer offerings, and that while business IM looks to be an important future application operators are likely to support, no business-specific offers are yet available. Our educated guess is that this will change within a year.
Subsea cable alternatives can provide a level of comfort for those concerned about disruptions. Realistically, they will continue to play a small, but critical role in the short term.
Maintaining existing network infrastructures often incurs huge technical debt before newer technologies are adopted over time.
Amid ongoing regional uncertainties, telecom infrastructure in the Middle East has expand to include terrestrial low-latency network infrastructure, which offers resilience and agility in navigating political complexities without relying solely on undersea networks.
