Optus targets business with Nokia Lumia launch

Optus has started taking consumer and small business orders for the Lumia 800 smartphone, Nokia's first to run the Windows Phone 7 operating system.

The phone, which will ship on March 1, is available to order for $0 on $49 consumer cap and business plans from this week, and a $59 plan with two months access free.

After the phone's launch, Optus will only provide the $49 monthly consumer and business plans through online orders.

The telco also revealed plans to offer the lower-end Nokia Lumia 710 on $29 plans at launch on March 1.

Vodafone Australia and Telstra are both expected to carry the phone but have yet to confirm pricing details.

The phone is much anticipated by companies looking for a viable enterprise smartphone running Microsoft's refreshed operating system, as an alternative to popular iPhone, Android and BlackBerry rivals.

But news of the phone's local launch has been hampered by continued job cuts at the Finnish giant, a move to manufacturing in Asia and relatively poor sales of Windows Phones-based devices from other smartphone makers.