Orange offers free BlackBerry mail to businesses

BlackBerry email offer may help smaller businesses

Orange is offering the BlackBerry Internet Service free to business customers for the life of their mobile voice contract, the company has announced.

Customers who sign up for BlackBerry Internet Service with Orange during February or March 2009 will, depending on the tariff chosen, get the service completely free for the duration of their voice contract.

Orange said the move is designed to help smaller business customers during the current tough economic climate.

“This offer is designed to give our customers a bit of a financial break and help them stay in touch while alleviating the need of worrying about their bill for a little while,” said Orange UK's director of small and medium business, Martin Lyne.

BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) is a hosted version of BlackBerry email, whereby a user's inbox is stored in a datacentre operated by the carrier. This is in contrast to the BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES), which is typically operated by larger organisations on their own network.

The offer applies to Orange's Business Solo or Business Infinity plans, or a consumer talkplan of £35 per month and above, subject to a 12 month contract.