ATandT Acquires Mobile Developer Plusmo

AT&T acquired Sept. 30 privately held Plusmo, a provider of cross-platform mobile application solutions. AT&T said the deal would bring to the telecom giant an open standards technology that will hopefully simplify mobile application development.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed but Plusmo will become a part of AT&T Interactive, and the Plusmo mobile application development platform is expected to be used by multiple AT&T subsidiaries, including AT&T Mobility.

“With the increasing demand for mobile services and applications, it’s an opportune time for Plusmo to be joining the AT&T family,” Krishna Vedati, Plusmo’s CEO, said in a statement. “Plusmo’s mobile platform capabilities will help contribute to AT&T’s effort to accelerate consumer adoption of mobile applications as well as expand the opportunity for publishers, media brands, service companies and developers to reach a large and coveted audience across a broad range of devices.”

The Plusmo platform reduces development time and costs by allowing developers to create widgets and applications using common Web development standards that enable easy deployment across multiple mobile operating systems and devices. It has developed a number of popular sports widgets that average more than 100 million monthly mobile page views.

AT&T Interactive and other AT&T subsidiaries will explore using the technology to create other applications and widgets that work on the three most common consumer platforms: mobile, the computer and TV.

“Plusmo’s technology will help us build upon the success and momentum we’re experiencing in mobile local search, which continues to see strong growth,” said David Krantz, president and CEO, AT&T Interactive. “The addition of Plusmo adds a new dimension to our technology prowess through its multiplatform approach.”