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To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (78041)	9/22/1999 5:10:00 PM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Respond to of 164684

INTERVIEW-StarMedia plans for fast, wireless Web By Nicole Volpe NEW YORK, Sept 21 (Reuters) - The chief executive officer for StarMedia, an Internet media company for Spanish-and Portuguese-speaking audiences, said on Tuesday the company plans to offer high-speed access services and wireless services to mobile devices like cell phones and pagers. Everyone in the Latin American market "has to follow us or they won't be a player," said Fernando Espuelas in a telephone interview. "We are not imitating the U.S. market, we plan to be doing things here earlier than they are done in the U.S., to be able to drive where the market is going." Espuelas said New-York based StarMedia already formed an alliance with a high-speed cable modem provider, which he said would allow Internet media company to offer a StarMedia-branded service to over 100,000 homes throughout Latin America. This so-called "broadband" service, which transmits data, voice and video over the Web at high speeds, is not yet available in many parts of the United States. Espuelas called this an example by which technologies in Latin America could leap-frog steps the U.S. market has seen. He would not offer further details about the deal that would create the service, which would be offered in early 2000. StarMedia earlier on Tuesday said it agreed to acquire PageCell International Holdings Inc. in a stock deal Espuelas described as "substantial." The acquisition of Miami-based PageCell is aimed at providing wireless Web features to the cell phones, beepers and Palm Pilots so popular in Latin America, beginning in October. The 20 PageCell employees would form a new division called StarMedia Mobile, bringing the total of StarMedia employees to about 500. Espuelas said he expects his fast-growing company to be about 600-strong by year's end. With a total of six acquisitions in less than six months, StarMedia is trying to maintain the all-important "first mover advantage," before local telecommunications companies gain a foothold, and U.S. Internet heavyweights such as America Online Inc. <AOL.N> and Yahoo! Inc. <YHOO.O> enter the market full-force. "We're taking advantage of being in this market by ourselves for three years," said Espuelas. While StarMedia has been adding services, powered by a successful initial public offering in May, other Internet companies are not to be ruled out. Quepasa.com Inc.<PASA.O> went public in June. Brazil's Universo Online last week said it would sell a 12.5 percent stake for $100 million to private equity investors to expand its offerings in the region. Including PageCell, StarMedia has acquired six companies in less than six months. Last week, StarMedia said it acquired San Francisco-based Webcast Solutions Inc., a company that specializes in instant delivery of audio and video over the Web. "We're doing a high degree of experimentation with this new platform," said Espuelas, who said the company had bought two studios with the possibility of creating original programming to be delivered over the Web. Reuters Group Plc <RTR.L> <RTRSY.O> holds a minority stake in StarMedia. 859-1700) REUTERS Rtr 21:42 09-21-99