AT&T to push iPhone at business users

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AT&T, the US mobile phone network carrying the iPhone has countered industry analysts that dismissed Apple's first foray into phones as unsuitable for the corporate world, by unveiling a new business price plans and conditions of use for business customers.

Three AT&T business plans announced, the lowest is $45 (£22.95) per month with 200 text messages, followed by a $55 (£28) plan with 1,500 bundled text messages, while the top plan costs $65 (£33.15) per month with unlimited texts. All three price plans include unlimited data service (albeit with a fair use policy) but do not include any bundled voice minutes.

Additional international data roaming data plans are available at $24.99 (£13) and $59.99 (£31) for 20MB or 50MB of data transfer respectively.

The US business tariffs are the first to be announced for the iPhone since it first went on sale in June last year. The tariffs require a two-year contract commitment, the same as AT&T's consumer contracts for the iPhone.

In contrast, UK iPhone network partner O2 remained tight-lipped on its actual plans when IT PRO contacted the company for comment on whether it would follow suit, a move that is likely as the AT&T business tariffs were almost certainly announced following discussion and with the blessing of Apple.

Analyst firms including Gartner have questioned whether Apple's first mobile phone device is suitable for the enterprise. The headline advice from Gartner's 'How to plan for user interest in the iPhone' bulletin last July when the phone first went on sale read: "Because of possible manageability and security issues, organisations should resist general requests from users to admit Apple's iPhone into their corporate environment."

Other analysts agree that it lacks suitable integration with enterprise platforms.

"Although it will manage IMAP mobile email, it does lack some highly useful business integration such as other Exchange features like calendar and contacts," Rob Bamforth, service provision practice director at analyst firm Quocirca told IT PRO.

"That said, many business users are style conscious and able to pull budget independent of IT management concerns in order to create the right impression - look at the success of the BlackBerry," he added.

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