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To: Skiawal who wrote (17686)	1/11/2000 3:42:00 PM
From: Michael F. Donadio	Respond to of 21342

Broadband, here we come! Tuesday January 11 02:30 PM EST dailynews.yahoo.com Jennifer Mack, ZDNet While most analysts agree the AOL/Time Warner merger will speed up the arrival of broadband Internet access, consumer advocacy groups fear the deal will stifle competition and potentially limit free speech. "We think it sucks," said James Love, director of Ralph Nader's Consumer Project on Technology. "AOL has been a big hammer for open access, and this deal means they'll likely abandon that." But most industry observers think the merger will accelerate the availability of high-speed Internet access. Combining Time Warner's (NYSE:TWX - news) approximately 20 million cable television subscribers with America Online Inc.'s (NYSE:AOL - news) 20 million members could double the number of consumers using broadband access by 2004, according to Gary Schultz, president of the Multimedia Research Group in Sunnyvale, Calif. Schultz thinks the deal could lead to 26 million households using broadband in just under four years. Such a large potential market already has analysts echoing AOL CEO Bob Pittman's prediction that this merger will "re-define what an Internet company is in the Net age." Also expected: A rush by other players to form similar combinations that will combine Internet access with a wide swath of content. The top prospect for such a merger: Yahoo! Inc. The portal's huge reach -- more than 41 million people visit it a month, according to the latest figures from Internet measurement service Media Metrix -- would make it attractive. Analysts tab Walt Disney Co. (NYSE:DIS - news) as a likely partner for Yahoo! (Nasdaq:YHOO - news), though they also mention CBS (NYSE:CBS - news), Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) and NBC. Data dilemma Besides the merger's importance for broadband access and content distribution, the vast amount of data available from AOL members and Time Warner customers are likely to make direct marketers drool. "Time Warner has some of the best subscriber lists in the whole world. Combine that with AOL's 20 million subscribers, and suddenly you've got this huge direct marketing opportunity," said Kent Allen, e-commerce analyst at the Aberdeen Group. That type of benefit for direct marketers is exactly what has consumer advocates so worried. The fear is that as fewer and fewer companies control access to information, consumers' privacy will be compromised and impartial reporting may become impossible. "When big conglomerates decide not to cover stories that they have a special interest in, (that) could prove dangerous for all of our freedoms," said Linda Sherry, spokesperson for Consumer Action, a non-profit advocacy group based in San Francisco. Limited distribution Topping another list of concerns is the possibility that AOL will expand its exclusive content deals with Time Warner's media properties, limiting access to popular online sites like Time.com and CNN.com to AOL members. AOL already has a $12 million exclusive deal to offer People magazine's online content. But Melissa Bane, director of Internet strategy for The Yankee Group, thinks the company is unlikely to make such a move, though she thinks AOL may move to a premium subscription service for specialized content sometime in the future. "It's possible they'll do more of those (exclusive deals), but AOL has to be a good ISP and it's not going to want to make deals that alienate it" from other Internet users, said Bruce Kasrel, an analyst at Forrester Research. For now, most industry insiders say consumers aren't likely to see any significant changes to AOL and Time Warner services. Prices for AOL service are likely to remain the same. The merger still needs to be approved by federal regulators. Initially, Time Warner has said it plans a number of promotional offers available only to AOL members and expanded promotion of AOL in its offline properties. Michael

To: Skiawal who wrote (17686)	1/13/2000 10:39:00 AM
From: Michael F. Donadio	Respond to of 21342

NEWS on CONFERENCE PLUS biz.yahoo.com Thursday January 13, 9:54 am Eastern Time Company Press Release SOURCE: Westell Technologies, Inc. OutReach Technologies and Conference Plus Inc, a Westell Technologies Subsidiary, Sign Strategic Partnership Agreement Conference Plus Selects OutReach Technologies to Provide Voice and Data Conferencing Solution SCHAUMBURG, Ill., Jan. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Conference Plus, Inc. (CPI), a subsidiary of Westell Technologies, Inc.(Nasdaq: WSTL - news), and OutReach Technologies® announced today the signing of a multi-year strategic partnership agreement. Under the terms of this agreement, OutReach Technologies will supply a next-generation audio and data conferencing platform to enhance CPI's capabilities to manage conferencing services. CPI, in turn, will offer the voice and data capabilities as a suite of hosted applications through major telecommunications service providers. Over the past year, the Embrace(TM) programmable platform from OutReach Technologies has been operational at CPI and is currently available to customers, including Fortune 500 companies who purchase the offering through service providers. CPI plans to expand this service dramatically over the next 12 to 24 months, leveraging new developments from OutReach Technologies and enabling service provider partners to offer new enhanced services. ''This business relationship is of great importance to both companies,'' stated Rick Riviere, CEO of Conference Plus. ''The synergy between CPI and OutReach Technologies will enable us to accelerate the delivery of new and enhanced services while increasing market awareness for both companies' products and services.'' Recognizing the rapidly growing trend toward web-hosted applications, OutReach Technologies and CPI will work together to identify requirements and future enhancements to address the needs of this market. In addition, OutReach Technologies and CPI will establish cooperative marketing plans and sales agreements to support the sales and marketing initiatives of each company. ''This relationship with CPI strengthens our position as the leading provider of web-enabled audio and data collaboration software to the service provider market,'' stated John Caulfield, President and CEO for OutReach Technologies. ''Embrace provides audio plus value-added enhancements -- real-time data collaboration, application sharing, and follow-me web browsing -- allowing service providers to differentiate their services in an increasingly competitive market.'' OutReach Technologies is a leading provider of web-based interaction software for e-business. OutReach Technologies caters to the service provider and ASP channel, selling the Embrace software suite to service providers and resellers who in turn are able to provide their customers the solution to a critical deficiency in e-business today the lack of live human interaction. By bringing live voice and human interaction to e-business applications and web sites, the Embrace software suite dramatically improves the effectiveness of online team collaboration, interactive remote selling, and web customer care. More information on OutReach Technologies and the Embrace interaction software suite is available at outreachtech.com . Conference Plus, Inc. is an Application Service Provider managing and hosting IP, audio, video conferencing services and back-office support. With offices in Lombard and Schaumburg, Illinois, and Dublin, Ireland, CPI was the first service bureau to achieve ISO 9002 status for audio, video and IP capabilities. CPI's customers include Fortune 500 and Global Fortune 500 corporations and telecommunication resellers. Additional information can be obtained by visiting CPI's Web site at cpiconf.com . All the best, Michael