AT&T rolls out digital services division

digital services, as it seeks to diversify revenue streams, Biz Journals states.

The unit is called Digital Life Services, a company spokeswoman said. It will focus on services such as home security, home monitoring, home automation and control, home healthcare and personal energy management.

GigaOM reports the company would reside in the wireless side of the business, squarely under the Emerging Devices division responsible for the tablets, e-book readers and other non-phone devices accruing to AT&T's network.

Digital Life Services could be the vehicle AT&T will use to become a retailer of applications that it currently addresses through the wholesale market.

AT&T's machine-to-machine (M2M) strategy basically has two facets: it sells new emerging devices such as tablets and netbooks directly to its customers, and it powers the connections between devices, whether it's an e-book download to a Kindle or a network link to a smart meter, leaving the sale and customer relationship to its partners.

These are ideal for cellcos because they place a less heavy, and more predictable, data load on the network than a smartphone, Rethink Wireless notes.