AvantGo, BEA Team on Wireless Support

Aiming to attract large corporate customers, AvantGo Inc. announced on Monday teamed with enterprise application server provider BEA Systems Inc.

AvantGo, the wireless access software and mobile Internet service provider, announced that its M-Business Server, Mobile Delivery and AvantGo Sales applications now support BEA WebLogic Server.

In addition, AvantGo has joined BEAs Star Partner Program. As a result, the two companies will work closely together on sales, training and technical development, according to AvantGo officials in Hayward, Calif.

AvantGo software supports Research in Motion Ltd.s Blackberry handhelds as well as any devices that support the Palm OS or Microsoft Corp.s Pocket PC OS.

Separately, AvantGo is now charging a fee for its Custom Channels program, for those who want to host more than eight subscribers.

The company has always charged for M-Business Channels, which are designed for businesses that want to interact with huge numbers of AvantGos users. Custom Channels, on the other hand, were meant for personal use; users of the companys free Mobile Internet Service could create personal channels that allowed access to their personal Web sites.

Because the service was free, however, customers took advantage of it, officials said.

“Since the AvantGo Mobile Internet services inception, our policy has stated that Custom Channels are for personal, non-business use only,” a statement on the companys Web site read. “Over the years, many organizations have ignored this policy, delivering business-related content and applications to hundreds of users for free via the service.”

The new charges include an annual fee of $1000 for nine to 100 subscribers on a channel, $4,000 for 101-500 users, and $6,000 for 501-1,000 users. Beyond that, the company makes individual deals for M-Business channels — $5,000 for up to 10,000 users and $10,000 for up to 25,000 users.