paulallen.com
Vulcan Ventures Announces Joint Venture to Create Definitive Broadband Portal
Partners with Charter Communications, RCN Corporation, Go2Net and High Speed Access
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BELLEVUE, Wash. ? October 4, 1999 ? Vulcan Ventures Inc., the investment organization of Paul G. Allen, today announced the formation of a joint venture with four of its affiliated Wired World companies ? Charter Communications, RCN Corporation (Nasdaq: RCNC), Go2Net (Nasdaq: GNET) and High Speed Access (Nasdaq: HSAC). The new company, Broadband Partners, was formed to provide broadband portal services initially to customers of Charter Communications, RCN and potentially other MSOs. Vulcan is the majority owner of the joint venture.
Broadband Partners will establish headquarters on the West Coast later this year. Management for the company has not yet been identified.
?This venture marks another step forward in our execution of Paul Allen?s Wired World strategy,? said William Savoy, president of Vulcan Ventures. ?Cable companies are uniquely positioned to deliver the next generation of advanced data and transactional services. By linking four of our key investment companies, and combining their expertise in various aspects of cable and new media, we are aiming to create a comprehensive broadband portal for the delivery of those new products and services. ?
?This alliance will allow us to provide the ultimate Internet experience to
our customers over a digital set-top box,? said Jerald L. Kent, president and CEO of Charter Communications. ?It will facilitate the offering of broadband content to every consumer and will not be limited to PC users. We expect to achieve synergies with other Paul Allen investments in making Internet to the masses a reality.?
?RCN Corporation and Vulcan Ventures share their vision that a high-speed broadband connection to the home is necessary in the evolution of the Internet,? said David C. McCourt, chairman and CEO of RCN Corporation. ?RCN Corporation is building a state-of-the-art network that we feel is second to none, and we?re thrilled to be partnering with this group of companies.?
?This is a significant extension and formalization of our March 16, 1999 agreement to provide Paul Allen's affiliated cable companies and their subscribers with access to Go2Net's portal services,? said Russell C. Horowitz, Go2Net Chief Executive Officer. ?We?re looking forward to working with Vulcan, Charter, RCN, and HSA to develop content, technologies, and services for broadband platforms. This will add meaningful distribution opportunities and reach for Go2Net?s offerings and is also an opportunity to extend Go2Net?s e-commerce infrastructure to broadband environments.?
?We are thrilled to have the opportunity to provide this exciting product enhancement to cable operators,? said Ron Pitcock, president of HSA. ?This will widen our current service offering and give high-speed customers a customized portal that is designed for the broadband user.?
About Vulcan Ventures
Vulcan Ventures Inc. of Bellevue, Washington was founded by Paul G. Allen in 1986 to research and implement his investments. Through Vulcan Ventures, Allen invests in companies which offer products, services or technologies that fit his wired world strategy, and can contribute to or benefit from the technology and strategy of other Paul Allen companies. William D. Savoy is president of Vulcan Ventures, and represents Allen in his professional and personal financial transactions as well as manages the Vulcan analysts who investigate and secure investment opportunities. Allen remains chairman of Vulcan.
About Charter Communications
Charter, a Wired World company, is among the country?s leading broadband communications companies. Following the close of all pending transactions, Charter will serve approximately 6.2 million customers. Charter was ranked as the eighth fastest growing company in the United States by Inc. magazine on its 1998 Inc. 500 list. Charter offers an array of services including cable television under the Charter brand; high speed Internet access via Charter Pipeline ?; advanced digital video programming services under the Charter Digital Cable? brand and Charter Paging?. Headquartered in St. Louis, MO, Charter was acquired by Paul G. Allen in 1998. More information about Charter can be accessed on the Internet at www.chartercom.com.
About RCN Corporation
RCN Corporation (Nasdaq: RCNC) is the nation?s first and largest single-source, facilities-based provider of bundled communications services to the residential market, and the nation?s largest targeted Internet service provider (ISP), with all of its customers strategically clustered in the Boston to Washington and San Francisco to San Diego corridors. The company is currently providing local and long distance phone, cable television and its rcn.com Internet services to the densest telecommunications markets in the country, from Boston to Washington, D.C. in the East and San Francisco to San Diego in the West.
About Go2Net
Go2Net is a network of branded, technology- and community-driven Web sites focused on the following categories: personal finance, search and directory, commerce and business services, and games. The Go2Net Network's properties include: Go2Net Personal (http://www.go2net.com/), which provides users with a comprehensive Internet start page offering customizable news, discussion, and stock information, as well as direct access to Go2Net's own finance, search, free Web hosting, shopping and Java multiplayer game sites; Silicon Investor (http://www.siliconinvestor.com/), the Web's premier financial discussion site, which also offers proprietary articles, portfolio tracking tools, company research and news relating to business and finance; MetaCrawler (http://www.metacrawler.com/), a metasearch service that combines various existing search/index guides into one service; Dogpile (http://www.dogpile.com/), a metasearch service and provider of proprietary search technologies; 100hot (http://www.100hot.com/), a leading directory of the Web's most popular sites; HyperMart (http://www.hypermart.net/) and Virtual Avenue (http://www.virtualave.net/), the Web's leading providers of free business hosting services; Authorize.Net (http://www.authorize.net/), the Internet?s leading payment authorization service; Haggle Online (http://www.haggle.com/), a person-to-person auction service; WebMarket (http://www.webmarket.com/), a one-stop comparison shopping service; and PlaySite (http://www.playsite.com/), the Web's premier Java-based multi-player games site. The company's Go2Net Labs division develops innovative technologies to enhance the features and functionality of the Go2Net sites and for licensing to other Internet companies.
About High Speed Access (HSA)
High Speed Access Corp., www.hsacorp.net, is a leading provider of high speed Internet access via cable modem to residential and commercial end users in exurban areas, including Charter Pipeline ? in certain markets. It enters into long term exclusive contracts with cable operators to provide the operators with its services. The Company typically pays its cable partners a portion of the monthly fees it receives from the end users in exchange for the opportunity to access and provide service to the cable partner's subscribers. High Speed Access Corp. completed its initial public offering on June 4, 1999 and is traded on NASDAQ under the symbol HSAC. The Company's investors include Vulcan Ventures, Inc., Microsoft Corp., Cisco Systems, Inc., and Com21, Inc.
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Contact Information For Vulcan Ventures
Susan Pierson Brown
425.453.1940
Susanp@vnw.com |
