Another one among the thousands to excite you
Excite Online Powered by AT&T WorldNet Service Provides Consumers Internet Access for $14.95 a Month
Companies To Offer Advanced, Internet-Based Communications Services Later This Summer
REDWOOD CITY, Calif./NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 11, 1998-- Excite, Inc. (NASDAQ: XCIT - news) and AT&T (NYSE: T - news) today announced they have delivered the first in a portfolio of services on the Internet with the immediate availability of Excite Online Powered by AT&T WorldNet(r) Service, providing nationwide Internet access at $14.95 per month for 150 hours.
Excite Online offers consumers fast, easy and reliable dial-up access through AT&T's WorldNet Service and an easy-to-use, personalized start page on the Web. Excite Online will offer its users access to customer service from AT&T WorldNet Service, including a toll-free help line and online assistance with billing, access numbers and other matters.
''The value of Excite Online Powered By AT&T WorldNet Service clearly exceeds the sum of its parts,'' said Dan Schulman, president of AT&T WorldNet Service. ''Through this service we are combining the best of Internet access, personalized content and extensive search capabilities to create a superior Internet experience for both new and current users.''
Schulman also said that within two months AT&T and Excite will begin offering Internet-based, multimedia communications services such as anonymous voice chat, click-to-dial directories and conference calling controlled from the Web. For example, he said an Excite user visiting a chat room will be able to turn that keyboard-based session into a verbal chat with another participant without disclosing his or her phone number, thereby preserving the anonymity inherent in online chat.
Additionally, within the next month AT&T also will offer Excite users access to a selection of AT&T services through a co-branded ''Personal Communications Center'' on the Excite site (www.excite.com and www.webcrawler.com). The services are AT&T One Rate(Online long distance service, AT&T Wireless Services, AT&T Prepaid Calling Cards, and AT&T WorldNet Service.
''Combining Excite's leading personalized consumer Web experience with AT&T's Internet access service and power in the consumer marketplace, we are seizing the opportunity to build one of the largest online services for the Internet,'' said George Bell, president and CEO of Excite, Inc. ''With Excite Online, we're offering consumers a one-stop, powerful combination for Web access and the ability to define their Web experience with an Excite start page.''
Excite Online is available now for download at get.excite.com or on CD-ROM by calling 1-888-GET-XCIT. The $14.95 price represents a $5 discount off AT&T WorldNet Service's price for its Standard Plan, currently $19.95 a month. This promotional discount is effective for the first 12 months of service for AT&T Residential Long Distance customers or for the first 6 months of service for non-AT&T Long Distance customers. There is a charge of 99 cents for every hour beyond the first 150 each month.
The promotional $14.95 price is effective for the first 12 months of service for AT&T Residential Long Distance customers or for the first 6 months of service for non-AT&T Long Distance customers. There is a charge of 99 cents for every hour beyond the first 150 each month.
AT&T and Excite will jointly market the service to consumers throughout the length of the three-year agreement.
About Excite
Founded in 1994, Excite, Inc. is a global media company offering consumers a free online service with a simple front end to the Internet and extensive personalization capabilities, and advertisers the best one-to-one marketing services available online. The Excite Network consists of two of the largest brands on the Web, Excite (www.excite.com) and WebCrawler (www.webcrawler.com), and its subsidiaries; MatchLogic, Inc., Excite Japan Co., Ltd. and Excite UK, Ltd. Localized versions of Excite are available in France, Germany, the UK, The Netherlands, Sweden, Japan and Australia. Based in Redwood City, Calif., Excite, Inc. (NASDAQ: XCIT - news) has strategic relationships with America Online, Inc., Intuit Inc. [Nasdaq:INTU - news], Netscape Communications Corp. [Nasdaq:NSCP - news], Prodigy Internet and Tribune Company [NYSE:TRB - news].
About AT&T
AT&T is the world's premier voice and data communications company, serving more than 90 million customers, including consumers, businesses and government. With annual revenues of more than $51 billion and some 126,000 employees, AT&T provides services to more than 280 countries and territories around the world. AT&T runs the world's largest, most powerful long-distance network and the largest digital wireless network in North America. The company is a leading supplier of data and Internet services for businesses and the nation's largest direct Internet service provider to consumers.
AT&T WorldNet and AT&T One Rate are registered service marks of AT&T. |
