Orange drops BlackBerry Bold due to quality

Cell carrier Orange is dropping the BlackBerry Bold due to quality issues, according to a leaked internal memo at the company's UK division. The provider says that reports of chronic software flaws from a "variety of mobile operators" have prompted it to remove the phone from the market entirely until it can be promised a definitive fix from Research in Motion. The latter is said to be fixing the glitch and promises extra testing to prevent such a problem from reoccurring.

The solution should be ready within a "couple of weeks," Orange estimates.

Specific reasons for the withdrawal are unknown. However, the Bold as late as the end of August was encountering 3G reception issues and is still unreleased on AT&T despite the American carrier having announced its plans to support the phone in the spring.

RIM as a whole has lately been struggling to provide more exact release windows for its smartphones; in the announcement of the BlackBerry Storm, none of the currently announced carriers have supplied more than a holiday season release timeframe.

Filed under: industry, mobile phones
Other story tags: AT&T, BlackBerry, Research in Motion, Orange, Bold