BIDS: This news should move stock tommorrow...
News Story
BII - Toronto
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(R) AT&T(TM)
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(TM), Bid.Com's ''intelligent'' bidding agent. Bid Buddy(TM)
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(TM) 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(TM) 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(R) AT&T(TM), 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.
(R) Rogers Cantel Inc.
(TM) AT&T Corp. Used under License.
/For further information: For more information, please contact: Erin
Guy,Marketing & Communications, Bid.Com, PH: (416) 340-0795; For more
informationon Cantel AT&T, please contact: Heather Armstrong, Director,
CorporateCommunications, Rogers Cantel Inc., PH: (416) 935-6379/ |
