Nokia pushing Lumia 900 as primary phone for AT&T sales reps, says WPCentral

With the Lumia 900 going on sale April 9th in AT&T stores, Nokia is apparently pulling out all the stops to make sure potential buyers get the best possible impression.WPCentral has reported that Nokia paid up to $25 million to have the Lumia 900 designated a “Company Use” phone, one of the handsets that’s available for free to sales reps. Although employees can get any device at a discount, this looks like the first time a Windows Phone has appeared on the CU list, which is otherwise populated by Android phones and the iPhone. Nokia is reportedly expecting 80 percent of Front Seller employees to turn in their current company handsets for the Lumia 900.

Sources say that AT&T also has something to gain from heavily promoting the Windows Phone OS. Having lost its exclusive lock on the iPhone, the company may be looking to shift its focus to the nascent Windows Phone line in order to differentiate itself from competitors — that means promoting the Lumia 900 the way it did the iPhone in 2007. Neither AT&T nor Nokia offered comment when we contacted them.