MTS Ukraine, Alcatel-Lucent and RIM Announce the Launch of the BlackBerry Solution in Ukraine

Kiev, Ukraine, Paris, France and Waterloo, ON, - MTS Ukraine, a leading Ukrainian mobile operator (NYCE: MBT), Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) and Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today announced the launch of the BlackBerry® wireless solution in Ukraine. Using BlackBerry® smartphones, MTS Ukraine customers will be able to wirelessly send and receive emails, make phone calls, browse the Internet, send text messages and access corporate and lifestyle applications when on the move.

Under the terms of a distribution agreement between Alcatel-Lucent and RIM, Alcatel-Lucent provides global integration services, leveraging its strong local presence in the region to provide MTS Ukraine with end-to-end implementation, launch, delivery and support services for the BlackBerry solution in the Ukrainian market. With Alcatel-Lucent’s assistance in managing delivery of the solution, technology integration and deployment, MTS Ukraine is able to focus on the delivery of customer facing services in order to quickly meet market demand.

MTS Ukraine, an integrated mobile telecommunications service provider, offers a full suite of mobile business and consumer services in Ukraine. With the BlackBerry solution from MTS Ukraine, customers can wirelessly access email as well as other Internet and intranet based applications to enhance business communications, employee productivity and competitive advantage for the organization. Users can also enjoy the flexibility of web browsing and communications with friends, family and colleagues on the go and at their convenience.

“As a leader of innovative services, we are constantly committed to expand our portfolio of the most advanced telecom solutions. More and more clients in Ukraine would like to get easy access to their emails and calendar information when they are on the move. Launch of the BlackBerry solution in partnership with Alcatel-Lucent and RIM is a good example of international cooperation. It comes in line with our principle ’to give more to subscribers’. We are the first mobile operator in Ukraine to offer our customers this efficient and effective service with advanced security features, which has already become a hit among businesses and individuals and around the world" said Pavel Pavlovsky, general director MTS-Ukraine.

“This is a dynamic time for aggressive carriers like MTS Ukraine who are eager to take advantage of market opportunities to deliver converged applications and devices to expand and enrich their service portfolio,” said Johan Vanderplaetse, vice president for Alcatel-Lucent’s activities for the Commonwealth of Independent States. “By providing end-to-end solutions and integration services Alcatel-Lucent is helping carriers in high-growth economies quickly and confidently extend value-added services, including telephony and Internet, to a large number of users globally.”