AT&T Inc chief executive officer Randall Stephenson said on Tuesday that more than half a million iPad owners were using the US telecom giant’s cellular network and new tablet computers were expected to help drive growth.
AT&T is the exclusive provider of 3G cellular service for Apple’s Inc’s iPad, which went on sale in the US in April, It also is the exclusive US carrier for the iPhone.
“We have over half a million iPads connected to the network,” Stephenson told financial analysts at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia XIX Conference.
“And you’re going to see a stream of new tablets come to market from a number of carriers,” he said. “That’s a whole new growth prospect for this industry that is really just in its infancy as well.”
“We’re at the really early stages of this connected device phenomenon,” he continued. “It’s a very nice business model.”
AT&T on Tuesday also released a new smartphone, the TerreStar Genus, which provides satellite connectivity in addition to 3G cellular service.
AT&T said the combination of 3G and satellite coverage provides “always-on connectivity” throughout the US and offshore coastal waters.
“The Genus is intended to serve as an everyday mobile phone, with satellite capability as a backup option when needed,” AT&T said of the smartphone, which is powered by Microsoft’s Window Mobile 6.5 operating system.
AT&T is marketing the Genus as a device for government, energy, utility, transportation and maritime users who need connectivity at all times.
Meanwhile, Research In Motion Ltd may debut a tablet computer next week at a conference for developers that tailor software for the Canadian firm’s BlackBerry smartphones, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The company responded to an inquiry with an e-mail stating that the company’s “standard policy is to decline comment on rumors and speculation.”
A tablet computer referred to unofficially as the “BlackPad,” is due for release by the firm by the end of the year, prompting talk that it will be introduced at this year’s Devcon gathering beginning in San Francisco on Monday.
The Journal cited unnamed insiders as saying the BlackPad will have a seven-inch touch-screen, built-in cameras and link wirelessly to cellular networks through BlackBerry smartphones.
BlackBerry smartphones have been under pressure from Apple iPhones and handsets running on Google-backed Android software.
Apple earlier this year unleashed its hot-selling iPad tablet computers and firms have been racing to field competing devices.
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