It’s usually a very sad long waiting game to get decent smartphones for folks who aren’t already on a major carrier like Verizon, Sprint, AT&T or T-Mobile.  Sometimes, though, that waiting can pay off.   Alltell customers  — well, those of you not already swallowed up by ported over to Verizon in many market areas — this may be one of those times.   If you have a qualifying plan (e.g., eligible to upgrade or opening a new line/account) you can grab the BlackBerry 8530 to run on Alltel’s 3G network for a mere $49.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate.  Yeah, we’re not big fans of the mail-in rebate way of doing things either, but $100 bucks isn’t exactly chump change.  The best part?  It’s only a 1-year contract.

So, while it’s not the most revved-up BlackBerry on the market with it’s 2MP camera,  you do get to take advantage of the new Curve form factor, trackpad (no more gunky trackball problems, yay!), social networking with Facebook and Twitter, and the Wi-Fi/ GPS enabled goodness any respectable smartphone sports these days.  Throw in your own microSD, and your 8530 can be used for video recording with expandable storage up to 32GB.  Not too shabby.

Press Release follows with even more details on Alltel’s BlackBerry 8530.

Alltel Wireless Launches the BlackBerry Curve 8530 Smartphone

Affordable New Smartphone Offers Email, Messaging, Social Networking, Music and Entertainment for People on the Go

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Alltel Wireless today announced the immediate availability of the BlackBerry® Curve 8530 smartphone in
retail stores and online at alltel.com.

The BlackBerry Curve 8530 is a new addition to the popular BlackBerry Curve series and an incredibly approachable smartphone. For people who like to be connected, it provides easy mobile access to email, messaging (IM, SMS, MMS) and popular social networking sites (including Facebook® and MySpace) and features a highly tactile full-QWERTY keyboard for comfortable,
accurate typing. It features rich multimedia capabilities and access to music, games and other mobile apps for entertainment on the go. The smartphone is also Wi-Fi® enabled, giving customers two ways to connect to the Internet – through Alltel’s fast 3G wireless network or through any available Wi-Fi hotspot. When connected on Wi-Fi, multi-taskers can receive email and messages or browse the Internet while simultaneously speaking on the phone.

“Alltel takes pride in bringing the most advanced and versatile handsets to our customers so they can experience the world around
them,” said Paul Bowersock, Senior Sales & Operations Leader for the Alltel Divesture Trust. “If you’re looking for a smartphone that has advanced capabilities for both business and personal use, the BlackBerry Curve 8530 will help you make the most of every moment.”

The BlackBerry Curve 8530 features a large full QWERTY keyboard, a trackpad for easy navigation and dedicated media keys that are smoothly integrated along the top of the handset, giving customers an easy, convenient way to control their music and videos. The smartphone also includes built-in GPS with BlackBerry® Maps and geo-tagging functionality, Stereo Bluetooth® support, HTML web browsing, 256MB of internal flash memory, a 2 MP camera with digital zoom and video recording* and expandable storage memory via microSD™/SDHC slot supporting up to 32 GB.

“More and more mobile phone users are choosing to upgrade to a smartphone and the new BlackBerry Curve 8530 will undoubtedly convince many more Alltel customers to make the switch. It is a great new addition to the BlackBerry Curve series and delivers all the great messaging, social networking and multimedia features that customers have come to love about BlackBerry smartphones,” said Carlo Chiarello, Vice President, Product Management, Research In Motion.

The BlackBerry Curve 8530 smartphone is available now at Alltel retail stores and online at shopalltel.com for $49.99 after a $100
mail-in rebate with activation of a 1-year service contract and qualifying Smart Choice Pack. Smart Choice Packs start as low as $69.99 per month and include unlimited data, email and Web access. Alltel is the only major wireless carrier to offer 2-year  postpaid handset pricing to those signing 1-year contracts, creating enhanced flexibility and greater choice for customers.

The BlackBerry Curve 8530 from Alltel and 1-year contract option is available only to customers in the 91 cellular market areas (CMAs) that Verizon Wireless is required to divest, which will continue to operate as Alltel Wireless until the sale agreements with AT&T and Atlantic Tele-Network are approved by the Department of Justice and Federal Communications Commission.

For more information concerning the sale of the divested markets, consumers can visit and log on to www.alltel.com, and go to the Customer Q&A section. To find out more information about the BlackBerry Curve 8530, visit www.blackberry.com/curve.

• Video recording requires a microSD card, sold separately.

The BlackBerry and RIM families of related marks, images and symbols are the exclusive properties and trademarks of Research In Motion Limited. RIM assumes no obligations or liability and makes no representation, warranty, endorsement or guarantee in relation to any aspect of any third party products or services. Wi-Fi is a registered trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance.