KIRKLAND, Wash.-AT&T Wireless Services is introducing AT&T wireless circuit data service in New York and New Jersey.
Circuit data service allows cellular customers with portable computing devices to access corporate databases and e-mail with throughput comparable to landline connections, according to AT&T.
The company is conducting 10 customer trials in the New York metropolitan area, one with a hotel chain that allows its sales force to book rooms from a remote location.
Plans call for circuit data service initially to be deployed in markets where AT&T wireless packet data service is available, or soon will be introduced. Wireless packet data service uses Cellular Digital Packet Data technology.
Airtime rates for data transmissions are the same as for cellular voice, with no additional monthly surcharge for the service, AT&T said.
Deploying both circuit data and packet data service is important to meet the diverse wireless needs of customers, said Kendra VanderMeulen, vice president and general manager of AT&T’s Wireless Data Division.
“Customer applications range from short, `bursty’ transactions such as short messaging, to long file transfers. By offering both technologies, we are able to cover the spectrum of our customers’ application requirements,” VanderMeulen said.
“In New York, our entire cellular footprint has been wireless circuit data service-enabled,” said Dennis O’Connell, president and general manager of AT&T Wireless in New York.
