"AT&T Broadband on the Go" Enables Connectivity Virtually Everywhere, Capitalizing on Rapid Growth in Small Business Wireless Data Spending

Dallas, Texas, August 05, 2010

In today’s economy, small businesses are demanding "on-the-go" high-speed connectivity more than ever before to stay competitive, enhance productivity and grow their businesses. Thanks to a new bundled offer — "AT&T Broadband on the Go" — announced today the options companies use to keep in touch with their office, customers and business partners just got better.

The new bundle includes high speed Internet access, Wi-Fi, and mobile broadband, plus unlimited online personal computer data backup with remote access from any broadband web-connected device, starting at an introductory price of $90 a month** through August 31. “AT&T Broadband on the Go” is now available to small businesses across AT&T’s 22-state local footprint. The services, which enable small businesses to access their data from anywhere while staying connected to the Internet and their corporate applications, include:

• High Speed Internet from AT&T:Available with downstream speeds up to 24Mbps (on the U-verse platform) to help accommodate the needs of any small business, the service includes U.S.-based business-class technical support, all-in-one protection suite for selected tiers, up to 11 e-mail accounts
• Mobile Broadband with AT&T LaptopConnect***: Offering the nation’s fastest mobile broadband network, AT&T LaptopConnect creates the opportunity for small businesses to stay productive when away from the office.
• AT&T Tech Support 360^SM Backup and Go: With automatic online backup of computer files, the service protects data, while enabling small businesses to remotely access saved files from any web-connected laptop or mobile broadband device and send links to files or folders for sharing and collaboration.
• AT&T Wi-Fi^SM:Basic connectivity at more than 20,000 hot spots at convenient locations nationwide.

According to Compass Intelligence, a high-tech market analytics firm, small businesses (less than 100 employees) spent $5.6 billion in 2009 on wireless data services and expect to spend $18.9 billion in 2014, resulting in a compound annual growth rate of 27.6 percent.

“We estimate that small businesses make up roughly 38 percent of business wireless subscribers, while comprising about 45 percent of wireless data spend,” said Kneko Burney, president of Compass Intelligence. “As such, small businesses are a crucial segment of the wireless data market, and these customers’ spending is only expected to rise in the coming years.  Additionally, our research shows that small businesses spend more on average per user for wireless data than their enterprise counterparts, primarily because a greater percentage of their workforce is mobile and likely to rely only on wireless for their business connectivity.”

According to the AT&T Small Business Technology Poll, a national study released earlier this year by AT&T, 71 percent of small businesses responding indicate they use laptop data cards and nearly 79 percent indicate they use Wi-Fi hotspots to conduct business-related activities. Moreover, 60 percent of small businesses indicate they use their laptop more now to access data through mobile networks than they did two years ago and nearly 68 percent use Wi-Fi hotspots more now to access data than they did two years ago. 

In addition, the study revealed that nearly 85 percent of small businesses feel that recovering data would be important following a disaster. Yet only 30 percent of small businesses use off-site data backup, such as online backup. So in the event of a disaster that destroys their office, a majority of small businesses might well lose critical data because they’re not fully prepared. The Tech Support 360 Backup and Go component of the new broadband bundle addresses that potential risk.

For more, view the full article at: http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=18209&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=31011&mapcode=enterprise