April 1 (Bloomberg) -- AT&T Inc. may enter the e-book market, dominated by Amazon.com Inc.’s Kindle reader, as the wireless carrier looks beyond phones for new sources of revenue.

The Kindle, which lets users download books over Sprint Nextel Corp.’s network, has done a “phenomenal job” and AT&T wants to be part of that market, Glenn Lurie, head of emerging devices at AT&T, said today.

AT&T, the second-largest U.S. mobile phone carrier, is looking for new revenue streams as the pool of people in the U.S. without mobile phones shrinks.

AT&T also said today it will start selling netbooks, scaled-down computers that typically cost less than $500, with embedded wireless Internet cards. They will be available in Atlanta starting at $49.99 and in Philadelphia from $99.99 when subscribers subscribe to a data plan.

“There’s a whole bunch of ways to monetize that type of device,” Lurie said in an interview with Bloomberg at the CTIA Wireless show in Las Vegas. “That’s coming, it’s coming fast,” he said. “We’re going to be part of it.”

Lurie declined to comment on potential partners or when such a device, which lets customers download the text of books and read them digitally on a tablet, might be released. Amazon.com spokesman Drew Herdener declined to comment.

The paperback-sized Kindle 2, released in February, sells for $359 and holds more than 1,500 books, seven times more than the original model. Users have a choice of more than 230,000 titles, as well as major U.S. and international newspapers, magazines and blogs.

Verizon

Verizon Wireless, the largest mobile-phone company, said today it’s also branching out into consumer electronics. The company set up a development unit that will work with companies to put “fourth-generation” high-speed data service in new products. Verizon declined to name the brands it’s working with.

AT&T, based in Dallas, rose 72 cents, or 2.9 percent, to $25.92 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock has lost 9 percent this year. Verizon Communications Inc., the co-parent of Verizon Wireless, gained $1.02, or 3.4 percent, to $31.22.

To contact the reporters on this story: Hugo Miller in Las Vegas at hugomiller@bloomberg.net; Amy Thomson in New York at athomson6@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: April 1, 2009 19:55 EDT