Another Wireless Deal
The 5th and 6th paragraphs are the pertinent ones here.
NEW YORK (AP) - IBM Corp. and AT&T Corp. have formed a new alliance to enable businesses to provide traveling employees with wireless access to corporate networks and databases with mobile phones and other handheld devices.
The deal announced Friday pairs services from the nation's biggest wireless carrier with the world's leading provider of software and support for business computer systems.
Still, the relationship is hardly unique for IBM, which formed a similar partnership with Sprint PCS in December and one with Nextel Communications this week.
Likewise, the new IBM-AT&T alliance comes amid a frenzied dash by technology and telecommunications companies to grab an early lead in providing wireless access to the Internet and other computer networks.
On Tuesday, Oracle announced a major wireless push with the creation of a new company that will operate a new online portal combining many top Web sites, and provide software and services to businesses seeking a wireless Internet presence.
More than likely, the IBM and Oracle announcements were timed to beat a flood of wireless initiatives and products that will be unveiled next week at a major wireless industry show in New Orleans.
IBM and AT&T said they will design systems so that, for example, business people will be able to use wireless devices to input sales orders directly into corporate databases or connect with internal systems to make or change travel plans. Other services would include wireless access to e-mail, scheduling and contact information.
While most of the work would be geared toward AT&T's current wireless network infrastructure, the two companies also plan to develop systems using more robust wireless technologies that will be deployed in the coming years.
``E-business is going mobile. Over the next five years, more than 80 percent of new corporate applications will be designed for non-PC devices, such as wireless phones,' said Gary Cohen, general manager for IBM Global Telecommunications Industry. |
