Attention Technology/New Media Editors:
Bid.Com and Rogers Cantel announce text messaging option for auction bidders
Bid.com users now able to receive bidding information
via Digital PCS phone and Alphanumeric pager
TORONTO, May 31 /CNW/ - Bid.Com (www.bid.com), one of North America's leading on-line auction companies, and Rogers Cantel Inc., Canada's largest wireless communications provider, today announced the first co-operative venture in Canada, linking an e-commerce web site with a major wireless company. Through the alliance, Bid.Com users who are also Cantel® AT&T™ Digital PCS, Alphanumeric Paging, and/or Interactive Messaging subscribers can choose to be notified via text messaging as to the status of their bidding activity.
“We're always looking at new ways to enhance the auction experience for Bid.Com users,” said Jeff Lymburner, President of Bid.Com. “Text Messaging notification is the first in a series of innovative features being introduced by Rogers Cantel and Bid.Com that will make the bidding process more convenient and interactive.”
Bid.Com users who subscribe to Cantel AT&T Digital PCS with Text Messaging, Cantel AT&T Alphanumeric Paging, or Cantel AT&T Interactive Messaging will be able to activate this messaging option when they register for Bid Buddy™, Bid.Com's “intelligent” bidding agent. Bid Buddy™ enables customers to place absentee bids by checking bid activity at regular intervals and increasing a customer's bid by the minimum required increment up to a pre-determined price limit. Bid.Com users who sign up for Text Messaging will now be notified on the display screen of their Digital PCS phone, pager or Interactive Messaging Device in addition to e-mail when they are outbid or have successfully completed a transaction.
“Cantel AT&T Messaging services significantly enhance the functionality of Bid.Com's Bid Buddy™ and are available to Canadians from coast to coast,” said Robert MacKenzie, Vice President, PCS and Product Development, Rogers Cantel Inc. “Cantel AT&T Messaging frees Bid Buddy™ users from being tied to their desks by providing up-to-the-minute bid status in the palm of their hand.”
Bid.Com's Canadian auction site was launched in November 1998 through a partnership between Bid.Com and Rogers Media Inc., a division of Rogers Communications Inc.
About Bid.Com International
Bid.Com, founded in 1995, is one of the Internet's leading online auction sales organizations, with offices in Toronto and Tampa, Florida. The Company offers a compelling, entertaining and cost-effective method of selling a wide array of goods and services over electronic distribution channels. Bid.Com is strategically positioned to leverage its business-to-consumer technological leadership by offering the pre-eminent online auction platform for co-ventures into business-to-business markets, licensing custom branded e-commerce solutions and for distribution through broadband/cable media. The Company's shares have traded on The Toronto Stock Exchange since February 1998 and began trading on the Nasdaq National Market in April 1999.
About Rogers Cantel:
With unparalleled network coverage, customer service and distribution, Rogers Cantel is the largest wireless provider licensed to provide a complete range of communications solutions from coast to coast. Marketed under the co-brand Cantel® AT&T™, the Company offers cellular, paging and Interactive Messaging, Digital PCS and wireless data to more than two million Canadians. Rogers Cantel Inc. is owned and operated by Rogers Cantel Mobile Communications Inc., (TSE: RCM.B; NYSE:RCN), an 81% owned subsidiary of Rogers Communications Inc.
® Rogers Cantel Inc.
™ AT&T Corp. Used under License.
 0- 05/31/1999
For further information: For more information, please contact: Erin Guy, Marketing & Communications, Bid.Com, PH: (416) 340-0795; For more information on Cantel AT&T, please contact: Heather Armstrong, Director, Corporate Communications, Rogers Cantel Inc., PH: (416) 935-6379
Release sent courtesy of Canada NewsWire Portfolio Email.
|
