AT&T adds mobile services for business, government users
Tuesday, July 20, 2010 14:15AT&T Tuesday announced that it’s offering three new mobile services, including text messaging and encrypted mobile voice products, aimed at business and government users.
AT&T said that it’s also reselling a service created by Petra Solar for utilities that are building out smart grid networks. The AT&T wireless network already supports some 7.5 million electric meters, the company said in a statement.
[ Also on InfoWorld.com: AT&T, can't you do anything right? | Find out how to say yes to (almost) any smartphone in InfoWorld's special report. | Keep up on key mobile developments and insights with the Mobile Edge blog and Mobilize newsletter. ]
Last month, AT&T agreed to resell smart grid systems from Current Group for dynamic management of power delivery.
AT&T claimed today that the new encryption offering is the first from a U.S. carrier that provides two-factor authentication for mobile-to-mobile voice communications. The encryption service, targeted at government agencies, banks, and law enforcement operations, will be available later this summer.
AT&T did not disclose pricing plans for the new services.
AT&T said that Hy-Vee, which operates 230 retail stores in eight Midwestern states, is using the new text messaging service to tell customers about hot deals and promotions.
The new services were unveiled just two weeks after AT&T had announced that it is working with Apriva to deliver mobile payment capabilities to small businesses.
Matt Hamblen covers mobile and wireless, smartphones and other handhelds, and wireless networking for Computerworld. Follow Matt on Twitter at @matthamblen, or subscribe to Matt’s RSS feed. His email address is mhamblen@computerworld.com.
Read more about mobile and wireless in Computerworld’s Mobile and Wireless Topic Center.
