AT&T: Wholesale Applications Community is a platform, not an app store

To follow up on some earlier news about AT&T's possible deployment of a new, cross-platform app store, I received a clarification from AT&T about what the Wholesale Applications Community (that's what they're calling it) is and isn't. It's NOT an app store. It IS an international coalition of around 25 telecom companies that's aiming to create a platform open to all developers and selling to all mobile phone users.

So, to be perfectly clear, I was wrong about AT&T launching an app store that competes directly with Apple's. Here's what AT&T told me: "We don't see this effort as competing directly with any single existing apps platform. As a matter of fact, the coalition is open to any stakeholder who is interested in joining."

I'm somewhat doubtful that Apple is interested in joining, but that's hardly AT&T's problem. It never hurts consumers to have more apps to choose from and more potential app retailers in the pool, so it will be very interesting to see what types of stores the Wholesale Applications Community's members end up launching.

Tags: app store, apps, AppStore, att, telecom, wholesale applications community, WholesaleApplicationsCommunity