TSIG.com and GeneralSearch.com Form Pact with UCP to Provide Internet Solutions
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 10, 2000--TeleServices Internet Group Inc. (OTCBB:TIGI - news), known as TSIG.com, and GeneralSearch.com, a leading search engine and portal, are pleased to announce today that they have formed an agreement with UCP (United Cerebral Palsy Associations, Inc.) to become the charity's technology sponsor and Internet portal partner for the next five years. TSIG.com recently entered into a definitive agreement to acquire GeneralSearch.com.
Working together with TSIG.com and General Search, UCP plans to create the vertical portal on the Internet for people with disabilities. This portal would provide state-of-the-art information on research, assistive technology, funding alternatives, and other needs. The TSIG.com/UCP plan includes working through the UCP affiliate system to distribute the GeneralSearch.com free Internet access and portal features to the 54 million Americans who have disabilities.
UCP is the nation's largest not-for-profit health care organization. Its annual revenues of approximately $611 million support 135 affiliates providing services to over 1 million Americans annually in 40 states. The TSIG.com/UCP partnership offers an extraordinary opportunity for a public-private initiative to provide important Internet services to people with disabilities.
The UCP Internet strategy includes a fundamental approach to reducing the digital divide for people with disabilities and is supported by a national public education campaign developed for UCP by Young and Rubicam.
``UCP is elated to form this partnership with TSIG.com and General Search. Collectively, they provide the Internet portal and technology partner we have been searching for,'' said Kirsten Nyrop, executive director of UCP. ``UCP has been a leader in the disability field for over fifty years. Today, we provide services to over 1 million Americans annually. The Internet is extremely important to this constituency as a medium of information and independence.'' Added Charles H. Moses, III, UCP's national volunteer president, ``UCP believes that our agreement with TSIG.com is the first step in allowing us to provide updated, relevant information to people and families with disabilities throughout the United States.''
Commenting on the historical significance of today's announcement, Paul Burke, UCP's national director of marketing and communications, observed, ``In the early 1950's, UCP mastered the new communications medium of television to produce and distribute an unprecedented event called a telethon. Its principal job was to raise money, generate awareness, and identify services available from UCP. Our agreement with TSIG.com provides UCP with a base to capture a new medium and to form a model which we believe will be adopted by other national non-profit organizations.''
About TSIG.com
Headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida, TeleServices Internet Group Inc., known as TSIG.com, has reached definitive agreements to acquire GeneralSearch.Com, an Internet search engine and portal; The Affinity Group, an affinity marketing and sales company; and Reliant Interactive Media, a direct marketing company that drives retail sales via television and the Internet. TSIG.com forms myCard partnership agreements with national corporations and non-profit organizations, and then works with those partners to design revenue-generating programs that attract consumers to their Web sites. The first myCard program was myMusicCard, which enables consumers to purchase CDs and cassettes at the lowest available prices. Similarly, TSIG.com's myPhotoCard programs provide low-cost film processing and Kodak Film, and the myPhoneCard programs provide low-cost prepaid long-distance calling card services. For all new myCard users, TSIG.com has arranged through GeneralSearch.Com to provide free Internet access for life, free e-mail, fax, integrated messaging and other features.
These customized marketing programs are intended to provide recurring revenues to TSIG.com and its partners, and help develop strong brand loyalty and awareness within target communities. TSIG.com further enhances its myCard programs by providing customer service and support with its Web-based call center and related services. With non-profit organizations, TSIG.com is engaged in ``cause-related marketing'' and has a ``volunteer sales force'' of millions generating sales and driving traffic to Internet sites for the lowest customer acquisition cost in the business. TSIG.com is the national marketing partner of UCP, the nation's largest non-profit health care organization and leader in the disability field, which each year serves over 1 million people with disabilities in the United States. TSIG.com's corporate web site is at www.tsig.com and the myMusicCard web site is at www.mymusiccard.com.
This press release contains ``forward-looking statements'' within the meaning of Section 27A of the 1933 Securities Act and Section 21E of the 1934 Securities Exchange Act. Actual results could differ materially, as the result of (1) competition in the markets for the company's products and services, (2) the ability of the company to execute its plans, (3) the availability of financing at favorable terms, and (4) other factors noted in the company's public filings with the SEC.
Contact:
TSIG.com, St. Petersburg
Paul Henry, 727/897-4000
phenry@tsig.com |
