WATERLOO, Ontario-Research In Motion Ltd. scored a significant customer last week as EarthLink, the nation’s second-largest Internet service provider, agreed to provide the BlackBerry wireless e-mail service to its customers nationwide.
The BlackBerry launch coincided with the company’s EarthLink Everywhere initiative, mirroring similar efforts by America Online and MSN to extend its Internet content beyond personal computers. EarthLink Everywhere essentially serves as the company’s new technology incubator. It will research, select and test new technologies aimed at extending the Everywhere strategy.
“As the Internet evolves from the traditional desktop PC to mobile devices and applications for the home and office, it’s crucial that EarthLink’s Internet service be available across all platforms and accessible from anywhere at anytime,” said Lance Weatherby, executive vice president in charge of the Everywhere effort.
EarthLink said a survey of its subscribers indicated a large demand for non-PC Internet access options.
“As the Internet becomes more ubiquitous, alternative access methods will be increasingly important to our Net-savvy subscriber base,” Weatherby said.
The BlackBerry solution was also picked up by Intelligent Decisions, a Washington D.C.-based system integrator for the federal government, which plans to offer it to the U.S. Army under its Portable-3 contract. The Army Portable-3 contract is aimed at collecting a certain set of mobile IT products available for U.S. Army use.
