We had been hearing about this one for quite some time and it has finally happened. Windows Mobile handset vendor, HTC, has formed a strategic alliance with India’s number two mobile carrier, Reliance Communications, to provide CDMA Windows Mobile handsets. Under the agreement, the two players will develop Windows Mobile phones that will be carried exclusively on Reliance Communications’ network. To begin with, HTC P3000 and S720 will be made available and will be priced at Rs 16,500 and Rs 19,500 respectively.

This will be the first time that Reliance Communications will deploy a Windows Mobile device on its network. The carrier is revamping its image of a ‘poor man’s network’ and is trying to woo some high ARPU subscribers by offering enterprise services. A few months ago, the carrier had started offering BlackBerry services to its subscribers. It has been learnt that Reliance Communications is also talking to other Original Equipment Manufacturers like Inventec and Tech Faith Wireless for providing a portfolio of Windows Mobile devices.

India’s largest cellular carrier by subscribers, Bharti Airtel, has an agreement with i-mate and HP for providing Windows Mobile devices on its network. It had also tied-up with HTC in June last year to be the exclusive carrier to sell the Touch phone in India. The carrier also offers a push e-mail service for devices running on the Windows Mobile platform. 

Reliance Communications’ CDMA rival, Tata Indicom, had launched the CDMA version of the Motorola Q that also ran on Windows Mobile. It was the first carrier to offer a Windows Mobile device when it had introduced the XDA Konquer way back in 2006, which was also manufactured by HTC. It had also deployed UTStarcom’s PPC 6700, another HTC device.

Last year, over 11 million devices running on Microsoft’s Windows Mobile platform were shipped globally. Microsoft aims to ship nearly 20 million such devices this year. India’s market for such converged devices or smartphones as they are popularly known was pegged at 3.7 million units last year and is expected to hit 5.4 million units this year. The Redmond, US based company faces competition from Research In Motion’s BlackBerry and Nokia’s Symbian S60 platforms in this segment. Google’s upcoming Android platform might also become a threat to Windows Mobile.

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