It's March and the Blackberries are ready

RIGA 's The constant companion of the executive on the go, the Blackberry, has landed in Latvia courtesy of mobile phone company Bite. While that may be good news for harassed business people, it also threatens to ruin marriages, according to Bite Latvia CEO Fred Hrenchuk.

"Two months ago I wasn't a BlackBerry user. In fact the product guys had to talk me into trying it at all. Now I'm using it more than I'm talking to my wife 's she is not too happy about that," Hrenchuk admitted.

And the marital woes don't stop there. Users become so wedded to their 24-hour access to email, the Internet and instant messaging that they find it hard to let anything come between them and their Blackberries. "People have stopped having sex!" Hrenchuk claims.

The Bite boss denied that the Blackberry was arriving in Latvia just as consumers turn their attention towards Apple's trendy iPhone, citing the Blackberry's user-friendly operating system and tested technology as key reasons why users become obsessive about their Blackberries.

Bite's payment plans start at LVL 20 per month for a Latvia-only deal or LVL 30 for a plan including the ability to use your Blackberry outside the country. The two models offered are the Pearl 8100 smartphone and Curve 8310, which features the familiar type-it-with-matchsticks Blackberry QWERTY keyboard.