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IBM, AT&T; Team Up on Wireless Data Services

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(Associated Press)

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 hand-held devices. The deal pairs services from the nation’s biggest wireless carrier with the world’s leading provider of software and support for business computer systems. The relationship is hardly unique for IBM, which formed a similar partnership with Sprint PCS in December and one with Nextel Communications this week. The 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. IBM and AT&T; said they will design systems so that businesspeople 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 will include wireless access to e-mail, scheduling and contact information.

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