The Smartphone juice has started to flow in Nepal after the Blackberry debut by Ncell of Spice Nepal. Ncell is the rebrand of the service previously known as Mero Mobile.

The only phone set available with Ncell, Blackberry Bold 9700, costs Rs. 49,199 and will cost Rs. 1,000 every month. That is well above majority of the people in Nepal can afford. Those who can afford, might be skeptical in paying dearly to a year old model (released 2009, October) when latest models like Blackberry Torch are available elsewhere. There is an option for the user to bring their own Blackberry and use the service for the same monthly charge.

Long after the Smartphone revolution around the world, Nepal has become the late entry in the field. Although Blackberry and iPhone sets were being used in Nepal, this is the first time the service providers support the devices officially. Spice Nepal had contracted with the Canadian manufacturer Research in Motion to bring the service in Nepal. Blackberry is the current the leader in the smartphone market.

In a program held in Radisson Hotel on Wednesday, Ncell CEO Pasi Koistinen and CCO Mansur Khamidov jointly launch the BlackBerry handset.