3 Mobile announces BlackBerry Bold

3 Mobile has launched the BlackBerry Bold handset to business customers  as part of its 3 Means Business push on its B2B direct and indirect channels.

3 announced a partnership with RIM almost a year ago, and the BlackBerry Bold is the first BlackBerry handset to be announced by the operator.

The Bold features configuration of up to 10 email accounts, ability to edit attachments, view Microsoft Word documents plus GPS. There are also rumours that it will soon be able to support Skype.

3's business segment manager Renato Bottini said: "Business at 3 is still very young after soft launching last July, but in that time our market share has grown significantly.”

"We have seen significant interest from our business channels to take the BlackBerry and we are very happy to add the Bold to our portfolio."

The device is available for free to 3’s business customers when signing up to a 24 month contract costing £23.41 per month excluding VAT. This will get you 750 minutes, 100 texts, unlimited 3 to 3 calls, unlimited email and 1GB web browsing per month.