So much for the cozy IBM/T relationship!
Wednesday December 1, 8:14 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
IBM And Sprint to Extend the Sprint PCS Wireless Web to the
Enterprise
KANSAS CITY, Mo. and SOMERS, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 1, 1999--
Companies to Offer Mobile Computing Business
Solutions and "Real Time" Wireless Access to Mission-Critical Data
with Security and Reliability
IBM and Sprint PCS (NYSE: PCS - news) today announced they plan to jointly develop and test a variety of wireless business applications and services for
the mobile workforce. The new services, planned for early next year, will enable business people to use the Sprint PCS Wireless Web to clearly send and
receive corporate email and access schedules, contacts and personalized corporate business applications in ''real time'' directly on Sprint PCS Internet-ready
Phones.
IBM and Sprint PCS will focus on the secure, reliable and efficient delivery of business applications and transaction-based services to Sprint PCS
Internet-ready Phones. By combining the clarity, connectivity and coverage of the nation's largest all-digital, all-PCS wireless network from Sprint PCS with
enterprise software and new hosting services from IBM, business customers will be able to use wireless phones to access most of the same corporate
information they can today with a PC.
''Wireless technology is an extension of the Internet and the business case for deploying applications to wireless devices is compelling,'' said Charles Levine,
chief sales and marketing officer for Sprint PCS. ''By collaborating with an industry leader like IBM, Sprint PCS is clearly taking the Wireless Web to the next
level for our business customers. The enterprise computing solutions that IBM and Sprint PCS will bring to the table speak to the great need for clear, mobile
access to any information, on any device, virtually anywhere, anytime.''
''Real-time data services will be the driving force increasing the use of wireless technology. Sprint PCS and IBM have complementary skills to make wireless
access to mission-critical business information as secure and reliable as being directly connected to a corporate network,'' said Mark Bregman, General
Manager, IBM Pervasive Computing Division. ''IBM is helping companies worldwide extend their enterprise applications to new types of devices. A robust
wireless network, such as the one from Sprint PCS, combined with enterprise-strength software and new hosting services from IBM, are essential for
businesses to deliver wireless data services to their customers.''
In September, Sprint PCS launched the Wireless Web Connection which enables business customers to connect to a corporate Intranet or the Internet by
connecting a simple cable to a laptop, PDA (personal digital assistant) or other handheld computing device and using a Sprint PCS Phone in place of a modem.
To complement this service, Sprint PCS and IBM have teamed to offer real time access to this same corporate Intranet information directly on the display of a
Sprint PCS Internet-ready Phone, without a cable or computing device connection.
IBM plans to provide extensions to its existing enterprise software products - such as database, messaging and device management - that will allow data
wireless networks, like the Sprint PCS Wireless Web, to accommodate the delivery of mission-critical data and transactions to and from a variety of devices.
IBM is helping companies, such as PlanetRx and Sabre Business Travel Services, to extend their content and applications to wireless devices. Today's
announcement between IBM and Sprint PCS will give companies like these the ability to offer secure and reliable business-to-consumer services as well as
direct access to enterprise applications, like order entry and processing and corporate Intranet and email systems, virtually anytime, anywhere.
ABOUT IBM
IBM is the world's largest information technology company, with 80 years of leadership in helping businesses innovate. IBM offers a wide range of services,
solutions, and technologies that enable telecommunications service providers and equipment suppliers to take full advantage of the new era of e-business.
IBM's Pervasive Computing unit has responsibility for creating e-business solutions that leverage the new class of connected client devices such as handheld
Internet appliances and screenphones. A key part of the team's mission is furthering the adoption of open industry standards for pervasive computing to help
customers easily access and act on information whenever and wherever they may be. IBM can be found on the Web at ibm.com.
ABOUT SPRINT PCS
Sprint PCS operates the largest all-digital, all-PCS nationwide wireless network in the United States, already serving the majority of the nation's metropolitan
areas including more than 4,000 cities and communities across the country. Sprint PCS has licensed PCS coverage of nearly 270 million people in all 50 states,
Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. For more information, visit the Sprint PCS web site at sprintpcs.com. Sprint PCS is a wholly owned
tracking group of Sprint Corporation trading on the NYSE under the symbol ''PCS.'' Sprint is a global communications company at the forefront in integrating
long distance, local and wireless communications services and one of the world's largest carriers of Internet traffic. Sprint built and operates the United States'
only nationwide all-digital, fiber optic network and is a leader in advanced data communications services. Sprint has $17 billion in annual revenues and serves
more than 20 million businesses and residential customers. |
