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AT&T is pitching Apple’s iPad tablet directly to businesses with a discounted wireless data plan, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.
The move could help AT&T generate more revenue as the market for smartphone plans becomes saturated, the Journal said.
It could also–temporarily at least–increase the threat posed by Apple’s mobile operating system to Research In Motion’s market-leading BlackBerry Enterprise Server software.
Apple’s iPhone is already catching up to RIM’s BlackBerry in terms of security–until now one of the RIM device’s key selling points. And though Apple hasn’t pitched the iPhone or the iPad as enterprise devices, their runaway popularity among consumers–including business employees–has begun to affect the corporate IT world’s traditional allegiance to RIM.
A discounted AT&T iPad plan could accelerate that process, and give the iPad an even greater head start over RIM’s recently announced, but still vaporous, PlayBook tablet–a RIM effort to beat back the barbarian tablets (and smartphones) at the gate.
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Of course, once the PlayBook appears, AT&T could offer a discounted plan for that device as well. The company declined to say whether that would happen, or whether it would offer a similar promotion with Samsung’s Galaxy Tab tablet, which runs Google’s Android OS. But Michael Antieri, president of AT&T’s Advanced Enterprise Mobility Solutions group, told the Journal that the iPad plan “is just the first (tablet plan) and this is a great one, but I think you’re going to see many more.” AT&T offers similar discounts for both the BlackBerry and the iPhone.
The carrier did not specify pricing for the iPad plan, which covers both the Wi-Fi and 3G models, saying only that AT&T usually establishes rates based on the volume of business it does with a given customer, the Journal said.
