Nokia said on Wednesday it has signed a deal with Microsoft to expand corporate e-mail access to 80 million Nokia phones as the world's top handset maker battles Blackberry-maker RIM .

Nokia said it will enable access to Microsoft's Exchange ActiveSync e-mail from all Nokia Nokia S60 3rd Edition devices with around 80 million such phones sold so far.

"The Nokia-Microsoft collaboration to bring corporate mobile email to businesses and mobile professionals is truly unbeatable. No other device manufacturer provides the wide range of devices that we have which immediately mobilize the hundreds of millions of email accounts from Microsoft Exchange," said Anssi Vanjoki, Executive Vice President, Markets, Nokia.

Nokia owners whose companies use Exchange can set up Mail for Exchange for free on their devices in various ways without paying additional services or subscription fees - from the email set-up plug-in on the home screen, by launching the application from the Download! folder, or via the Settings Wizard. Once the application is set up, users utilize their current data plan service to get real-time access to their office email, calendar, contacts, tasks and company directory over a secure connection.

By connecting to the Exchange Server 2007, Mail for Exchange enables features such as Autodiscover, which simplifies the set-up process by requiring the email account holder to only enter their email address, password, domain and usernames; 'Out of Office' messaging, enabling busy professionals to set their out-of-office messages directly from their Nokia device; synchronization when roaming, a must-have feature for travelling businesspeople; and also Flag status for follow-ups.