IBM Corp has won something of a coup in the field of wireless data services, with the news that most of the larger US mobile and wireless service providers have selected it as a preferred provider of mobile data service offerings. The carriers are the Ardis subsidiary of Motorola Inc, AT&T Wireless Services Inc, Bell Atlantic Nynex Mobile Inc, the CellularOne subsidiary of Southwestern Bell Mobile Systems, GTE MobilNet Inc, the BellSouth Corp-RAM Mobile Data Ltd joint venture and 360 Communications Inc (formerly Sprint Cellular Inc). While the agreement is good news for IBM, it is non-exclusive and there is no indication of how many other preferred providers will also be appointed. IBM has also become a preferred services provider for equipment manufacturers L M Ericsson Telefon AB, Racotek Inc and Telxon Corp, through which it will provide mutual customers with a single source of multi-vendor product procurement, integration services, warranty claims support, post-sale repair and replacement and end-user support. For the carriers, IBM is offering to provide integrated end-to-end mobile systems and services; offer wireline to wireless internetworking connections via the IBM Global Network; Internet access systems and on-line electronic services; regional wireless systems based on dissimilar wireless technologies, protocols and operating systems; and act as a single point of contact for their customers. The IBM product portfolio includes systems based on packet data, Cellular Digital Packet Data, circuit-switched data, as well as analog and digital public switched cellular technologies.
