Looks like Apple and AT&T are hoping to step up the pace for iPhone 3G sales by bringing it to the mass of mass markets – WalMart. Apple’s been very selective with retail relationships for the iPhone. So far, it’s Apple and AT&T owned stores, and most recently, Best Buy. But realistically, who could resist the appeal of WalMart’s herculean distribution machine. Interestingly enough, WalMart got its dibs on the iPhone before AT&T’s retail agents – I’m sure they are “thrilled” about that. According to BGR, the iPhone 3G will be available on December 28th in both select WalMart stores and Sam’s Club stores. I guess Apple wanted all the holiday sales to themselves. No word yet if WalMart will offer discounted pricing.

The iPhone joins the G1 and other BlackBerry devices which are already sold at WalMart. Will the BlackBerry Storm join them? Looks like WalMart is turning into a regular smartphone "heaven." It demonstrates the further penetration of the smartphone into the consumer segment.

Looks like WalMart can’t get enough of telecom. The latest word/rumor is the G1, Google’s mobile phone, which is currently exclusive to T-Mobile’s network, will be sold at WalMart stores across the country. Rumor has it that WalMart will sell the device at a discount over comparable pricing at T-Mobile stores. All of this rumor is courtesy of Engadget Mobile, who cites an anonymous source. Engadget reports the G1 will be sold, beginning in November, for $148.88 on a two-year contract, which is about $31 less than retail pricing found at T-Mobile.

WalMart has expanded its telecom services product line again. You can now add AT&T’s U-verse service to Wal-Mart's growing portfolio of broadband and telecom service offerings. AT&T announced the move on Monday, which also includes Circuit City as a retail channel for U-verse. Six hundred WalMart and Circuit City locations near U-verse deployments will retail AT&T’s services in Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas and Wisconsin. "We're excited to add AT&T U-verse to the list of must-have items that consumers can get from these leading retailers. Our services are the perfect fit to accompany and enhance customers' purchases,” said Glenn Lurie, president, National Distribution, AT&T in a company statement.

AT&T joins other triple play providers marketing their services at third party retail channels, taking note from the success of wireless retail strategies at these same stores. Most large MSOs already have retail relationships for their triple play offerings. AT&T has already been selling phone and DSL services at these locations. On the surface, these retail relationships make good sense. No better time to try to upsell IPTV and broadband, than when a customer is purchasing a new HDTV or computer. That being said, these triple play retail strategies have yet to prove their effectiveness. If AT&T can find a fraction of the success with U-verse that they find with third party wireless retail strategies, it will be well worth it. Certainly not an apples to apples comparison, but maybe it won’t be long before triple play service providers subsidize HDTV and computer purchases in retail stores to sell triple play bundles, much the same way they do with wireless devices today.

Wal-Mart recently gave up on their video downloading service after only one year. The service, which was run by Hewlett Packard, allowed Wal-Mart customers to download movie titles on the same day as their DVD release. Their initial move into video downloading was seen as a “watershed” event because Wal-Mart is the biggest retailer of traditional DVDs. Apparently, the downloading business was not what they had hoped. Or was it they didn’t feel like they had enough control and ownership. Multichannel News is now reporting that Wal-Mart is looking for another download solution, and may get back in the download business.

Multichannel News says that Wal-Mart is looking for a solution with the proper DRM rights which allow for burning of the downloaded video to a DVD for future playback. Such a service would allow subscribers to “buy” the title, rather than just rent it like some download services offer today. Wal-Mart’s potential reentry into the download business does not appear to be imminent. But why the quick turn around? Why didn’t Wal-Mart refine its existing solution instead of scrapping it and starting over? Maybe the terms wouldn’t’ allow it. Whatever the case, Wal-Mart’s potential move for VOD could have serious competitive implications for solutions like Apple's iTunes video downloads and Amazon’s Unbox service, as well as on triple play service providers who are exploring video download solutions of their own.

Just after a recent Wal-Mart announcement about a broadband reseller arrangement through HughesNet, Wal-Mart and Charter just announced a partnership to offer Charter’s triple play services throughout 700 Wal-Mart stores. The Wal-Mart stores that offer Charter’s triple play bundle will cover 93% of Charter’s footprint. Including the Wal-Mart store additions, Charter will now have a retail presence in over 1,000 storefronts.

Wal-Mart joins a host of retailers including Best Buy and Circuit City who have partnered to market triple play services. The Wal-Mart move is of particular interest because they sell more HDTVs than any retailer. Having an HDTV source to sell along side the HDTV at the point of purchase creates a significant opportunity for both Wal-Mart and Charter. “As Wal-Mart is expanding its offerings of high-definition televisions, computers and other products, we hope to compliment the customer's purchase with our services. For example, many consumers are unaware when they buy an HDTV, a high-definition source is also required in order to realize the full high-definition experience. In this case, Charter is the source that completes the product offering,” said Jeff Cox, Vice President of Sales Channels for Charter. The accompanying services of broadband and telephone create additional upselling opportunities. It will be interesting to see if Charter places sales reps inside Wal-Mart stores. Such a move could impact the sales process significantly. Wireless service providers have long placed their sales reps inside their partner retail stores, and have been quite successful with it.

Wal-Mart will soon begin marketing broadband service, through a reseller arrangement with Hughes Network Systems. The broadband product will be HughesNet, which offers packages of satellite delivered broadband at download bandwidth speeds of 700kbps to 1.5mbps (not guaranteed). BusinessWeek is reporting that Wal-Mart will initially offer the service in 800 stores. It’s not clear if Wal-Mart will offer the broadband satellite product at the same price points as Hughes.

This move by Wal-Mart may have both positive and negative competitive implications. It really depends on how aggressive they intend to get with it. If this new arrangement ends up being a low visibility display in the back corner of the store somewhere, it probably won’t have much of an impact. But if Wal-Mart markets it aggressively and ties it to the sale of computers from their stores, perhaps a different story will emerge. Wal-Mart is notorious for their potential market changing behavior. They use their tremendous market power to squeeze their suppliers for lower prices. Many would argue that Wal-Mart is most responsible for pushing HDTV into the mainstream by aggressively selling sub-$1,000 HDTVs. Will they have a similar impact on broadband? Positively speaking, this Wal-Mart move could benefit the broadband landscape, by raising the visibility of broadband and educating the "broadbandless" demographic. Realistically speaking, Wal-Mart’s broadband hands will be somewhat tied, due to their reseller relationship with Hughes. Satellite broadband has some distinct limitations and tends to be higher priced. It doesn’t match up well against cable modem and DSL, either in performance or price. I don’t think this announcement will have all competitors “shaking in their boots.” But any time Wal-Mart makes a move, its worth observing. Businessweek even speculates that their next move may be into the home, offering “Geek Squad” type services. Perhaps marketing broadband is step one in a much more measured and complex strategy. Stay tuned.

Skype has announced that Skype powered phones and headsets will be sold at 1,800 Wal-Mart’s across the U.S., introducing VoIP calling to a mainstream audience. It remains to be seen whether the Wal-Mart demographic will “get” Skype. There certainly will need to be creative store displays that convey the Skype value proposition to an average consumer. But having Skype in front of the Wal-Mart audience on a daily basis is a potentially disruptive milestone in the competitive telecom landscape.

See this Boston Globe brief.