News...
Wednesday March 31, 1:43 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Okane Announces Agreement to Launch Its Superwire.com Services to 100,000 Potential Subscribers in New York and Connecticut
BOTHELL, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 31, 1999--Today Okane International Enterprises Inc. (''Okane'') (OTC BB:OKNI - news) announces that it has entered into an agreement with New York-based real estate consortium MRC Realty Holdings, L.L.C. (''MRC'') to provide a full suite of Superwire.com services, the first installation of which will be showcased at one of MRC's premier residential high-rise properties in the upper east side of Manhattan.
Anticipated Superwire.com services will include high-speed Internet, media-rich broadband portal, local and long distance telephone, digital television and video-on-demand. Under the agreement, MRC has committed to establishing Superwire.com as the preferred provider of services to 100,000 potential subscribers in buildings located throughout New York and Connecticut.
Okane CEO James Truher stated, ''This agreement provides Okane with the opportunity to showcase and broadly deploy its convergent voice, data and video services. The bundling of these services will allow access to the traditional revenue streams associated with cable television, local and long distance telephone, internet service provision and video rental plus additional advertising and e-commerce revenues.''
''We believe that Superwire.com's convergent services will add tremendous value and competitive advantage to our real estate properties through the fulfillment of the communication and information needs of our residential and commercial tenants. Although unprecedented, we also believe that Superwire.com will receive exceptional value, considering the over $2,400 per cable subscriber recently paid by AT&T and Paul Allen's Vulcan Ventures,'' stated Paul Khakshouri of MRC. Khakshouri added, ''We welcome this partnership with the exceptional management and advanced technology capabilities of Superwire.com and also believe that the value proposition Superwire.com provides will enhance our tenants' everyday lives through the ability to use their televisions for communications, entertainment, one-stop shopping, video-on-demand and high-speed internet services.
''Since many tenants are working from home now (approximately 70% of our residential occupants), the Superwire.com service will reduce the requirement for additional lines for Internet and fax.''
Okane, through its wholly owned subsidiary, High Speed Communications, Inc. is one of the first companies to address ''broadband'' or ''high-speed'' access between new generation data network infrastructures (ATM-Asynchronous Transfer Mode and IP-Internet Protocol) and customers' demand for ''media-rich'' services. This will be done by creating a universal network through the convergence of the extensive cable and telephone infrastructures.
Okane's subsidiary, High Speed, will use licensed and proprietary technologies to provide cable and telephone (CLEC, ILEC & Wireless) partners and customers with cost and other advantages in offering a wide variety of services including telephone, e-commerce applications, broadcast portal service, and interactive video. High Speed plans to acquire additional technologies, which together with its current ''two-way'' patent and Entrata's Multi-Service Access devices will significantly improve the provisioning of high-speed interactive functionality. Services resulting from this high-speed access and High Speed's media partners will provide a platform for all wire-line and wireless companies to compete in this multi-billion dollar broadband market.
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainties which may cause the actual results or objectives to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among other things, the Company's financial performance; changes in the competitive environment; adverse changes in the economy; ability to maintain long-term relationships with customers; and financing requirements.
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Contact:
Okane International Enterprises, Inc.
Corporate Relations: Ed Hart, 425/424-0800
Media: Kate James, 425/424-0800
Investors: Jim Greene, 888/461-9991
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