Mar 16, 2011 15:56 GMT  ·  By

Redmond-based software giant Microsoft and Canadian mobile phone maker Research In Motion are set to unveil a free Hosted Blackberry Enterprise Service (BES) as soon as today, if recent reports on the matter are to be believed. A Microsoft-hosted Hosted Blackberry Enterprise Service (BES) offering is already available for BlakcBerry users, featuring a price tag of $10 a month per user.

However, the new offering is expected to become available for free for all existing Hosted BES users, though confirmation on the matter has to emerge.

In the latest Mobility Solutions data sheet for Microsoft Online Services, which was published on March 15th (available for download here), the Hosted BlackBerry service is described as available for free.

“Hosted BlackBerry for Microsoft Exchange Online is acquired as an add-on to Exchange Online Standard or the Business Productivity Online Suite Standard from the Microsoft Online Services Customer Portal,” the said document reads.

“Pricing is U.S.$0 per user per month with no minimum number of users required. Hosted BlackBerry service can only be added to paid Exchange Online or BPOS subscriptions, not to trials.”

When it comes to what the said service would have to offer to users, here's what Microsoft notes on the matter: The Hosted BlackBerry service from Microsoft Online Services offers the most commonly requested BlackBerry capabilities, including wireless access to e-mail, calendar, tasks and contacts with global address list (GAL) integration, and device management such as device wipe and password reset.

The current Hosted BES offering is reportedly set to end as of June 30. Also in June, Microsoft should launch Office 365, its its replacement for the existing Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) and Live@edu platforms.

According to reports, as Office 365 steps from beta to final, there might be a delay on having the new hosted BES service available on the re-engineered platform, and Microsoft is expected to offer an interim solution.