Want a Droid for work e-mail? It'll cost you extra

Accessing Exchange e-mail over the new 'iPhone killer' costs an extra $15 per month.

The industry is abuzz over the Motorola Droid, the first Google Android 2.0-based smartphone, to be released on Friday, Nov. 6, in the United States, with network access provided by Verizon Wireless. But users who buy the device and expect to use its built-in Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync support to get corporate e-mail from Exchange servers will have to pay an additional $15 per month for the privilege, Verizon confirms.

Verizon offers three data plans for Droid customers: $30 month on top of your voice plan's rate for non-Exchange usage, $45 per month on top of your voice plan's rate for Exchange usage, and $50 per month total cost for a data-only plan (whether or not you use it to access Exchange). Verizon spokeswoman Brenda Raney notes that the requirement to get the $45 "smartphone plan" for corporate e-mail usage applies to any smartphone, such as the BlackBerry -- not just to the Droid. "The Droid is primarily a consumer phone," Raney adds.

That pricing contrasts with AT&T's $30 monthly data plan (on top of your voice plan's rates) for the Apple iPhone and Research in Motion BlackBerry, the two most popular business-class smartphones; AT&T offers a $35-per-month data-only plan for the BlackBerry, but has no such plan for the iPhone. However, AT&T's business data plans charge $45 per month if the smartphones are used to access corporate e-mail or servers.

Sprint doesn't break out its data plans' costs for the Palm Pre and BlackBerry, but its smartphone plans cost the same as AT&T's, with a $30-per-month difference in charges for its voice-only phones' plans and its data-capable phones' plans. Like Verizon, Sprint offers a data-only plan for these devices for $50 per month.

Like most smartphones, the Droid does not support IBM's Lotus Notes or Novell's Groupwise. It does support Google's Gmail in addition to Exchange.

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