Intel and AT&T have reached out and touched each other, in a joint research and product development deal covering Internet telephony, wireless broadband, and combination voice-data products for businesses, the two tech giants announced late last week.
The deal means a bid by AT&T to move toward a new generation of communications equipment to power phone and data services, the company said at the project's announcement.
It also means Intel moving toward closer work with telecommunications companies to develop concepts that equipment makers can turn into products.
So far, the Intel-AT&T project has yielded Intel-powered consumer products tied to AT&T CallVantage Internet telephony, with plans for the near future including products to extend the range of long-range WiMAX wireless technology and an inexpensive, all-in-one device for offices to support secure networking, wireless communications, and voice services, according to published reports.
For AT&T, the Intel partnership is also seen as a way for the telephone giant to regroup through Internet technology what it's lost to rivals over the years since its one-time, longtime telephone monopoly was broken up.
“AT&T has been shut out of the market,” Insight Research president Bob Rosenberg told reporters about the partnership, referring to AT&T's decision not to pursue new long-distance customers amidst regulatory troubles, including a Federal Communications Commission ruling that rejected forcing local carriers to offer discount rates to long-distance carriers. “There is no relief available in the regulatory framework any more."
Rosenberg also said that, for Intel, the AT&T partnership means another move on the chipmaker's part to the telecommunications business. "I think Intel realized that the chip market for desktops isn't really going to grow that much bigger," he said. "They know the future is in mobility type computing."
