AT&T, Lenovo and Ericsson Offer Embedded 3G Laptops

Laptop manufacturer, Lenovo is to offer a range of  ThinkPad notebook PCs with built-in 3G modems from Ericsson for use on the AT&T Wireless network. All three of the ThinkPad SL notebooks and all notebooks in Lenovo's T and X series are included in the offering. Customers who purchase the ThinkPad notebooks with the embedded mobile broadband and establish an account with AT&T will receive 30 days of free AT&T DataConnect service.

The notebooks are sold directly by Lenovo.

The announcement comes as wireless data use and the adoption of high speed mobile broadband connectivity on notebook computers continue to skyrocket. Gartner forecasts embedded modem sales to have a compound annual growth rate of 94.3 percent worldwide from 2008 to 2012.

"We have seen mobile data consumption quadruple every year for the past three years," said Michael Woodward, vice president of Mobility Business Marketing for AT&T's wireless operations. "Customers recognize the benefits of enhanced connectivity on their notebook computers, and this increase in consumption reflects that. The program we've developed with Lenovo and Ericsson is a simple, affordable response to this trend that we expect will be welcomed by business customers and mobile professionals."

This program is the latest in a series of joint initiatives involving AT&T and Lenovo.

Posted to the site on 30th October 2008