FROM PR NEWSWIRE PHILADELPHIA 800-523-4424/
TO BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY EDITORS:
Talk.com to Give Free '.com' Personal Addresses to Consumers
- ICANN Approves Talk.com Application to Deliver Domain Names to the Consumer
Market -
RESTON, Va., Dec. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Talk.com (Nasdaq: TALK), the leader
in leveraging the power of the Internet to bill, service and market telecom
services to its growing customer base, today announced that it will offer free
domain name registration to consumers. By packaging internet domain names
with its core long distance product, the Company believes it can use this
bundle to attract new customers and enhance existing customer relationships.
Talk.com will also offer domain names on an unbundled basis at market rates.
Talk.com CEO and the former CEO of Network Solutions, Inc., Gabe Battista,
said, "This is great news for Talk.com. Our customers are net savvy...we bill
them online, service them online and attract them online. We are going to
deliver our web customers valuable internet real estate by securing their
choice of a free ".com" personalized address. By bundling domain names with
our high margin long distance service we have the ability to deliver these
domain names free of charge at a low cost to Talk.com. On an unbundled basis,
we will make it extremely easy and user friendly for consumers to secure names
at a reasonable price."
The Company has gained approval from Internet Corporation for Assigned
Names and Numbers (ICANN) and will now seek certification from Network
Solutions to obtain the necessary licensing and software agreements before
delivering names to its customers. Once approval is obtained from Network
Solutions, Talk.com will have the ability to assign Web domains ending in
.com, .net and .org to its customers. Talk.com will waive the underlying fees
required for domain name registration for customers who use the Company's long
distance services. Customers who prefer domain names on an unbundled basis
will be charged market rates.
Added Mr. Battista, "Domain registration is an important first step in
providing our web-based customers with their own identity on the Internet.
Soon, consumers will be able to utilize additional services to further
establish and enhance their presence on the web. Free domain name
registration is the latest in a series of service offerings that we believe
will improve brand loyalty to Talk.com. It's a big win for our customers and
the company."
About Talk.com
Talk.com is the industry leader in telecommunications that uniquely taps
the reach and efficiency of the Internet to market its telecom services and to
support its customers. Monthly phone costs are billed automatically via
credit card, and billing records are available online in "real-time," allowing
consumer and business users to closely monitor telecom charges. In August of
this year, Talk.com was ranked as one of the highest in customer satisfaction
by J.D. Power and Associates, the global leader in quality and satisfaction
measurements. Talk.com broke new ground when it signed its marketing
agreement with America Online (NYSE: AOL) and further established its
leadership position through marketing partnerships with other prominent
entities, including Prodigy, Wired Digital, E*trade, DSI, Metris and CDNow.
The Company is further differentiated by its high-end Lucent-switched
telephone network, user-friendly interface, proprietary online billing system
and convenient service -- all provided with among the lowest consumer long-
distance rates in the country featuring five cents per minute interstate
calls. For further information, please visit the Company online at:
www.Talk.com.
About ICANN
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is a non-
profit, international corporation formed in September 1998 to oversee a select
set of Internet technical management functions currently managed by the U.S.
Government, or by its contractors and volunteers. Specifically, ICANN is
assuming responsibility for coordinating the management of the domain name
system (DNS), the allocation of IP address space, the assignment of protocol
parameters, and the management of the root server system.
"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995: Statements in this press release regarding Talk.com's business which
are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks
and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which
could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-
looking statements, see "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report or Form
10-K for the most recently ended fiscal year.
For more information, contact: Ed Meyercord of Talk.com, 215-862-1244, or
fax, 215-862-1085, or John Dinsmore of Feldman Communications, 410-571-8900,
or fax, 410-571-2820, or JDFelCom@aol.com, for Talk.com.
SOURCE Talk.com, Inc.
/CONTACT: Ed Meyercord of Talk.com, 215-862-1244, or fax, 215-862-1085,or John
Dinsmore of Feldman Communications, 410-571-8900, or fax,410-571-2820, or
JDFelCom@aol.com, for Talk.com/
/Company News On-Call: prnewswire.com or
fax,800-758-5804, ext. 108084/
/Web site: talk.com /
Dec-21-1999 17:16 GMT
Symbols:
US;TALK US;AOL
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