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Alltel became the third wireless operator, after Verizon Wireless in the U.S. and TELUS Wireless in Canada, to offer Research In Motion's first BlackBerry wireless handheld with 3G support in North America today. Called the 7130e, the smartphone supports EV-DO (Evolution Data Optimized) cellular networking.

That means it is compatible with Alltel Axcess Broadband—the name the carrier gave its 3G service—for data transfer rates between 400 to 700 Kbps, with bursts up to 2.4 Mbps.

The net result should be the faster delivery of mobile content—messages, video, pictures, games, audio, etc.—and other services yet for a BlackBerry (see our review of the Verizon version). This boosts ARPU (average revenue per user) for carriers over traditional voice products alone and enhances performance for consumers.

As with earlier 7100 models, the 7130e is more phone than PDA-like than previous Blackberrys and the somewhat new 8700 series. It replaces the traditional BlackBerry QWERTY thumb-keyboard with one that merges a keypad and a keyboard. For text entry, each key supports two letters, while predictive text software called SureType helps users accurately input text—so when you press a key the 7100 knows which of the two supported letters you mean to use.

The software's word database encompasses tens of thousands of words plus the user's address book. As with your word processor's spell-checker, you can add more words to it as well. SureType support various languages, including English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese and Swedish.

For individuals and smaller businesses, BlackBerry Internet Service, which suffered some outages in the U.S recently, allows users to access up to 10 corporate or personal e-mail accounts (including Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus Domino and most popular ISP e-mail accounts). BlackBerry Enterprise Server is RIM's famous behind the firewall solution for corporations and the government. It integrates with Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus Domino and Novell GroupWise to enable push-based wireless access to e-mail and other data.

RIM upgraded BlackBerry Enterprise Server to version 4.1 earlier this month with the addition of expanded support for corporate instant messaging, an enhanced application development framework, and the ability to wirelessly reinstall data onto a replacement handheld, among other improvements.

Arkansas-based Alltel sells the BlackBerry 7130e for $299.99 with a two-year service contract.

It is America's fifth largest mobile operator— the biggest regional carrier—with a reported 15 million customers in 36 states. Number one Cingular Wireless has about 54 million subscribers by contrast. Alltel claims to operate the largest physical network in the States, however.