Good enough for T-Mobile, but not Rogers

This news will make Canadian wireless customers ill. $10 a month for Blackberry email? Here is take from Paradigm’s research analyst:

Research In Motion (RIM-T, RIMM-Q)

Double Whammy

Yesterday, Research in Motion and T-Mobile announced the introduction of new coloured versions of the Pearl and also announced some of the most aggressive pricing plans ever. We have talked for years about the potential for RIM to tap into a much wider audience with the introduction of much lower data pricing plans. Those types of plans have been made available only sparingly for introductory or promotional purposes (primarily in Europe). Now TMobile USA is introducing $9.99 per month “all you can eat” Blackberry email, excluding voice, text messaging and web surfing. This compares with the historical $40 plans of the past (although recently those have included web surfing as well). This marks a major milestone for RIM, as investors have long known that carriers are generating insanely high profits off Blackberry (with monthly costs to the carrier for Blackberry in the $2-5 per month, excluding the $5-7 monthly fee to RIM). We would assume that RIM’s typical $5 NOC fee will come down with this program, but we also know that the marginal costs of new users are nominal, so profitability is not impeded. The introduction of new colours for the Pearl (gold, blue and a new red) is less surprising and we would expect this trend to continue. Overall, Blackberry devices continue to carry a high “wow” factor and we would expect the stock to continue to reflect a premium from the markets excitement with the new products. The new T-Mobile pricing plans is a major change for RIM and represents an opportunity for a quantum leap forward in terms of new subscribers.

Not fair, not fair, not fair!

MRM
(disclosure – I own Rogers, for this among other reasons)