/24/00 - YAHOO! INC - Bell Mobility And Yahoo! Canada Launch - North America's First Wireless Instant - Messaging
Service on '.com-ready' Digital PCS Phones
Bell Mobility and Yahoo! Canada announced that they are extending more
popular Yahoo! Canada on-line services to Bell Mobility's Internet-enabled phones, including North America's first instant messaging
service available on a Digital PCS phone.
New York, New York, May. 24, 2000 (Market News Publishing via COMTEX) -- Yahoo! Messenger -- Effective immediately, Yahoo!
Messenger, Yahoo! Canada's on-line instant messaging service, is available on Mobile Browser, a Bell Mobility service that enables
users to wirelessly access the Internet from their Digital PCS phone. With the addition of Yahoo! Messenger
(http://messenger.yahoo.ca), Bell Mobility subscribers can now use their '.com-ready' phone to view which of their friends or colleagues
are on-line and participate in real-time, text-based, on-line conversations anytime, anywhere.
"Bell Mobility is pleased to join with Yahoo! Canada to become the first carrier in Canada to offer its customers wireless access to one
of the world's fastest growing communications tools," said Charlotte Burke, Vice President of Services Development at Bell Mobility.
"Research shows that more than half of the world's on-line population is already using instant messaging to communicate in real-time
with more than one person over the Internet. We expect that wireless instant messaging will be an instant hit with existing users of
both wireless and Internet technologies in Canada."
According to data communications consulting firm Mobile Insights Inc., the worldwide market for instant messaging will grow to 175
million users (PC and non-PC combined) by 2002.
In addition to Yahoo! Messenger, Bell Mobility is also adding My Yahoo! and Yahoo! Directory to its Mobile Browser service, enabling
users to receive personalized Yahoo! Canada information and conduct web searches -- simply by selecting Yahoo! Canada on their
Internet-enabled Digital PCS phone.
"Yahoo! is further expanding the reach of Yahoo! Everywhere -- delivering solutions to enable Internet consumers to access the best the
Web has to offer, anytime, anywhere -- by forging relationships with leading wireless networks and device manufacturers around the
world," said Drew Lanham, Senior Director of Business Development, Yahoo! Inc. "By deploying Yahoo! Messenger, My Yahoo! and
Directory services for Bell Mobility's Mobile Browser, we hope to offer our installed base of consumers a simple and easy way to enjoy
an important part of the Yahoo! Canada experience when they're away from their desktop PC."
My Yahoo! - enables Bell Mobility subscribers to wirelessly access customized content that they have previously organized on their
Yahoo! Canada My Yahoo! page. This service provides fast and easy access to the information and services that are most relevant to
the individual Yahoo! Canada user, such as news, sports, weather, financial information and e-mail.
Yahoo! Canada Directory - acts as a wireless search engine, providing Bell Mobility subscribers with access to additional web sites
that have been optimized for viewing on wireless devices, using Handheld Devise Markup Language (HDML). Yahoo! has extended its
site-indexing capabilities to include hundreds of wireless-ready web sites.
"Today's announcement marks an important new stage in the development of wireless Internet services in Canada," added Burke,
"Having launched Canada's first wireless Internet service available on a Digital PCS phone over one year ago, and having expanded that
service to offer wireless access to the widest selection of popular Internet sites available anywhere in Canada, Bell Mobility is now
working with partners, such as Yahoo! Canada, to tailor the wireless Internet to meet the specific needs of individual customers as well
as those of multiple-user groups."
To access Yahoo! Canada services wirelessly, Bell Mobility subscribers simply launch the Mobile Browser on their Digital PCS phone
and select Yahoo! from the Mobile Browser main menu. Yahoo! Messenger and My Yahoo! users need only activate these services
once from their main Yahoo! web page to initiate wireless access on an ongoing basis.
Yahoo! Messenger and My Yahoo! are currently available only in English. French services will be available in Fall 2000.
About Mobile Browser: In May 1999, Bell Mobility launched Mobile Browser, making it the first PCS company in North America to put
an Internet Browser into the PCS handset. Mobile Browser users can access and view a number of Internet sites specially- adapted for
small display screens. Mobile Browser is currently available on a number of Bell Mobility Digital PCS phones -- including the NeoPoint
1000, Qualcomm's QCP-2700, QCP-2700F and QCP-2760, and the Samsung SCH-3530.
About Bell Mobility: The Bell Mobility Inc. family of companies provides a complete range of wireless communications solutions -
cellular, paging, data, satellite, PCS and airline passenger communications services - to 2.5 million Canadian customers. Bell Mobility
Radio provides two-way voice and wireless data services to public safety and emergency services agencies. Bell Mobility Inc. is a
wholly- owned subsidiary of Bell Canada. For more information on Bell Mobility, visit the Web site at bellmobility.ca
About Yahoo! Yahoo! Inc. is a global Internet communications, commerce and media company that offers a comprehensive branded
network of services to more than 145 million individuals each month worldwide. As the first online navigational guide to the Web,
www.yahoo.com is the leading guide in terms of traffic, advertising, household and business user reach, and is one of the most
recognized brands associated with the Internet. The company also provides online business services designed to enhance the Web
presence of Yahoo!'s clients, including audio and video streaming, store hosting and management, and Web site tools and services.
The company's global Web network includes 22 local World properties outside the United States. Yahoo! has offices in Europe, the
Asia Pacific, Latin America, Canada and the United States, and is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif.
About Yahoo! Canada Yahoo! Canada (www.yahoo.ca) offers national Canadian and international content, personalized services,
powerful e-commerce features and intuitive Web navigation for Canadians. At Yahoo! Canada, users will find Canadian Web sites listed
first by category, with full access to relevant worldwide sites appearing next. Users can also seamlessly connect to any of Yahoo!'s
global properties. Yahoo! Canada is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario.
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TEL: (905) 282-4054 Bell Mobility - Ontario, Norm Berberich
TEL: (905) 282-4054 Bell Mobility - Ontario, Norm Berberic
E-mail: nberberi@mobility.com
TEL: (514) 786-3655 Bell Mobility - Quebec, Isabelle Tremblay
E-mail: isabelle.a.tremblay@bell.ca
TEL: (416) 341-5280 Yahoo! Canada, Lesley Wheldrake
E-mail: lesley@yahoo-inc.com
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