Verizon Wireless, owner and operator of the most reliable wireless network in the United States, recently announced the availability of GlobalEmail that gives Verizon Wireless business customers access to e-mail in more than 50 countries worldwide on the recently introduced Samsung SCH i830.
The Bedminster, N.J.-based Company said: With GlobalEmail, Verizon Wireless customers can stay connected and productive — whether traveling across the country or around the world.
GlobalEmail on the Samsung i830 with full QWERTY keyboard, allows customers to send and receive e-mails while out of the office. This GlobalEmail-equipped device is also voice capable, allowing customers to make and receive calls in the United States, Canada and more than 140 countries worldwide.
Verizon Wireless continues to provide its customers with the most relevant services to meet the needs of their increasingly mobile lives — whether they are conducting business domestically or internationally, said Jim Straight, vice president of wireless Internet and data for Verizon Wireless.
With GlobalEmail, Verizon Wireless business customers and mobile professionals can respond to messages and stay connected, even if work requires them to be in different countries around the globe.
The new service augments Verizon’s proprietary mobile e-mail technology, dubbed Wireless Sync, allows its subscribers to send and receive e-mail directly from PDAs and smart phones, and to push messages from desktop PCs to wireless devices.
The company also markets the mobile e-mail services offered by Research In Motion Inc. for its Blackberry devices, and Palm Inc.’s mobile e-mail for its Treo handhelds.
The initial device that offers Verizon Wireless’ GlobalEmail is the new i830 that was announced last week. Equipped with VZEmail including Wireless Sync as well as Windows Mobile(TM) and Pocket PC applications, this wireless workhorse allows travelers to check and respond to e-mail, develop, review and edit most document file types. Exclusively available from Verizon Wireless, the i830 allows international travelers to keep one phone and one phone number almost anywhere they go via its dual mode functionality CDMA/GSM for voice and EV-DO/GPRS for data. However, company officials said that Verizon hopes to introduce the worldwide coverage on other devices in the future.
Verizon officials said the company is continuing its push its worldwide footprint in the name of providing more seamless services to business travelers around the globe. GlobalEmail is the latest offering from Verizon Wireless to provide business customers with access to the voice and data services they need to manage business while away from the office and traveling abroad.
The company recently introduced GlobalAccess, which provides business customers with a two-card solution that gives them connection to the Internet across the United States, Canada and in 50 countries throughout Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa.
Some industry watchers believe that the introduction of more devices like the i830, which were designed with mobile e-mail in mind, should help spur more people to begin using the tools.
Avi Greengart, analyst with Washington-based Current Analysis, said that as the pricing for such handhelds begins to fall, user adoption of mobile e-mail may grow quickly.
Without a full QWERTY keyboard, it is going to be hard to convince people to sit down and tap out more text messages, he said. If the carriers and device manufacturers can make these types of applications more attractive to the end user that is when people will really start to embrace these sorts of tools.
Pricing for GlobalEmail
Subscribers who want to utilize the Verizon Wireless GlobalEmail service will get unlimited e-mail access in the United Stated, Canada and Western Europe for an extra $64.99 monthly, plus $0.03/KB for use in other countries.
For the less frequent international business traveler, Verizon Wireless also offers the convenience of pay-per-use GlobalEmail, which is available on existing data calling plans. This option gives occasional travelers flexibility to use e-mail as needed while traveling abroad, without a monthly GlobalEmail plan. Verizon Wireless customers will pay $0.002/KB in Canada, $0.02/KB in Western Europe and $0.03/KB in all other available locations to send and receive e-mail while abroad.
GlobalEmail and the i830 are available to enterprise customers through Verizon Wireless business sales and will be available for order from Verizon Wireless Communications Stores across the country on January 24.
The Samsung i830 is available for $599.99 with a two-year customer agreement.
The worldwide service will officially be launched on Jan. 24. Outside of the United States, Canada, Australia and almost every European country, GlobalEmail also covers nations including Brazil, China, Egypt, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Israel, Kuwait, Malaysia, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Taiwan and Venezuela.