The small telecom company operating in the states of Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky in United States – Cincinnati Bell has launched the globally hyped Nokia 5800 XpressMusic smartphone in the United States. The Cincinnati, Ohio based Cincinnati Bell has become the first US carrier to sell the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic touchscreen smartphone in United States; previously the phone was selling at Nokia's flagship stores in the United States.

The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic works on Cincinnati Bell Wireless network. Through Cincinnati Bell, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic handset is available for $149 with a two-year service contract and a $100 mail-in rebate. The Cincinnati Bell tariff plans for the Nokia 5800 include the Cincinnati Bell Smart Phone Family Plan and individual plans starting from $49 per month, including unlimited text, picture messaging, and Internet.

Tim Bracken, the director of consumer wireless for Cincinnati Bell, has stated that the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic has added a new dimension to Cincinnati Bell’s growing smartphone line up. The handset is truly is a modern entertainment gadget offering advanced Web browsing, built-in GPS, picture messaging, and music capabilities, and what is more, the Nokia 5800 is WiFi-enabled, offering some of the fastest data speeds available today.  

The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, measuring 4.27 x 2.04 x 0.61 inches and weighing just 3.8 ounces, comes loaded with a slew of features, particularly music and audio playback features. The standard features of the phone include a brilliant 3.2-inch 360 x 640 wide touchscreen, a 3.2 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss Optics and video recording capabilities, WiFi and Bluetooth v. 2.0, GPS, Quad-band GSM allowing international roaming, Full HTML web browser with Adobe Flash, and 3.5 mm A/V connector.

In the audio features, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic offers Nokia digital music player supporting .mp3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+ and WMA file formats. It also features an 8GB microSD memory card and a one touch ‘Media Bar,’ to provide one-touch access to music collection, image and video gallery, web browser and other multimedia functions.

In a statement, the Vice President of Sales, Nokia North America, Ian Laing has stated that the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic will offer a spectacular music experience and superb quality expected from Nokia, to Cincinnati Bell Wireless customers. Laing has also claimed that Nokia has sold over three million units of the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic globally, since its release in October, 2008, through the company’s partnerships and operators.

In February, Nokia had claimed that it had sold 1 million units of the Nokia 5800 in three weeks, but the phone failed to impress any of the Tier 1 U.S. carriers. Finally, the phone has been able to attract Cincinnati Bell. The info on the Cincinnati Bell plans for the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic can be sought through Cincinnati Bell retail stores or by calling at 1-800-500-1229.

Meanwhile, struggling with weak economy, Cincinatti Bell has announced that it will axe 7 percent of its employees or about 200 jobs, under its cost-cutting plan. The company has posted net income of $28.8 million for the first quarter, up from $12.9 million in the same quarter year ago. The revenue of the company has dropped 7 percent down to $325.5 million. The wireless revenue has dropped 3 percent, to $76.3 million from $78.5 million. Now, it will be interesting to see if the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic could help pump up Cincinnati Bell.