Etisalat and Nokia have announced a joint offering for business customers that will enable seamless access to their email accounts using the Microsoft Exchange Server with the Mail for Exchange corporate mobile email application, at a flat data rate.

Etisalat will offer the Nokia E75, Nokia E71, and Nokia E66 together with an internet package and needed support to enable businesses customers to have the ultimate mobile email experience, said a top official.

Corporate customers will benefit from a monthly subscription from Etisalat at Dh195 ($53) per month for unlimited email and Internet access with a fair cap of 1GB, said Abdulla Hashim, VP, Business Solutions, Etisalat.

Volume discounts will also be offered for companies to reduce their total cost of ownership.

Corporate customers whose companies are using Microsoft Exchange Server can set up Nokia Mail for Exchange for free on the Nokia devices without paying for additional integration fees, using the email set-up plug-in on the mobile home screen.

Once the application is set up, users get real-time access to their office email, calendar, contacts, tasks and company directory over a secure connection.

“Businesses today are looking for an affordable alternative to mobilize their emails. Most businesses however are not looking to purchase additional servers, middleware or licenses," said Hashim.

"With this competitive solution that we are offering, along with the Nokia’s easy email set-up, Etisalat is extending the convenience and productivity benefits of mobile email to an even wider audience backed by the outstanding quality of Etisalat’s 3.5G HSPA network that covers more than 99 per cent of the population at 7.2Mbps,” he added.

Iyad Issa, general manager, Nokia, Lower Gulf, said “Nokia Mail for Exchange is built on push technology, which ensures that emails are pushed directly to the mobile phone when they arrive at the email server."

"For many corporations, the costs of mobility are contained as companies are able to utilize their existing Microsoft Exchange infrastructure. By connecting to the Microsoft Exchange Server, the set-up process is drastically simplified by requiring the email account holder to only enter their email address, password, domain and username,” he pointed out.

Microsoft Exchange Server is the industry’s leading server for e-mail, calendaring and unified messaging. It allows features such as ‘Out of Office’ messaging; synchronization when roaming, and also Flag status for follow-ups.

Setting email priorities, alerts for meeting request conflicts, a standalone global address list application to search for a colleague’s contact details quickly, downloading and editing all types of attachments, not just image files, are must-have factors that users will expect from their Nokia mobile email application.

Nokia Mail for Exchange supports all Nseries and Eseries devices, making Nokia’s device range the largest ever to enable the solution.-TradeArabia News Service