CMGI News, FWIW:
Latino.com Teams with 1stUp.com to Offer Completely Free Internet
Access; Partnership will Deliver Industry-Leading Access Offering to
Latino.com Community
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Jan 25, 2000 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Latino.com Inc.
today announced that it will offer free Internet service through a
partnership with 1stUp.com Corp., a leading provider of ad-supported
Internet access solutions and a majority-owned operating company of
CMGI Inc.
Latino.com, to launch in February as an expansion of LatinoLink.com,
will offer completely free, unlimited web access virtually anywhere in
the U.S. or Canada.
Latino.com's users, publishers and advertisers will be able to download
the free Internet application from Latino.com's web sites at
www.latino.com and www.latinolink.com, using the technology of
1stUp.com.
Consumers will receive free, unlimited access in exchange for keeping
1stUp.com's compact, movable navigation bar on their screens during the
free online session. This navigation bar will present users with small
advertisements as well as convenient links to Latino.com, LatinoLink,
and other leading sites.
"The Latino online world is booming and the Internet is transforming
countless lives in the U.S. -- but many in our communities still have
economic limitations that preclude them from signing up for costly ISP
services," said Lavonne Luquis, Latino.com President and CEO. "That's
why we're delighted to offer free access to Latinos on our sites."
Latino.com is yet another partner to implement 1stUp.com's
groundbreaking technical solution. AltaVista Co., the first partner to
offer free access through 1stUp.com, recently reached 1 million
subscribers in just five months, quickly making AltaVista FreeAccess
the seventh-largest ISP in the country.
"Through our partnerships with Latino.com and other leading consumer
brands, 1stUp.com is helping free the web for consumers and communities
worldwide," said Jonah Steinhart, executive vice president of marketing
at 1stUp.com. "The global village will no longer need to pay for
reliable, full-featured Internet access."
About Latino.com
Latino.com, which seeks to become the dominant portal for the Latino
community in the U.S. and beyond following its launch in February 2000,
builds upon the success of LatinoLink.com, the premier
community-building, news-driven website targeted at the fast-growing
Latino marketplace.
Established in 1995, LatinoLink.com was the first website to serve the
U.S. Latino online population. Having garnered a significant and
growing online community and reputation for maintaining high standards,
the site will offer the growing Latino community a range of new
web-based tools and content coupled with channel partner offerings.
About 1stUp.com
1stUp.com, a majority-owned operating company of CMGI Inc.
(Nasdaq:CMGI), is the market leader in providing consumer-oriented
businesses with ad-supported Internet access solutions. 1stUp.com
provides patent-pending technology that enables its partners to brand,
market and distribute leading-edge, cost-effective Internet services to
their customers.
The 1stUp.com solution enables consumers to receive unlimited, free
Internet access in exchange for keeping a compact, sponsor-oriented
navigation bar on their computer screen. Multiple leading ISPs support
1stUp.com's premium network, which delivers free, reliable Internet
access to over 90 percent of the U.S. and Canada.
Aggregating the end-user bases of AltaVista and other partners,
1stUp.com has the buying power of multiple brands and is able to pass
along the benefits of optimal connectivity costs and advertising
revenues to its partners.
For more information, visit www.1stUp.com and www.latino.com.
Copyright (C) 2000 Business Wire. All rights reserved.
Distributed via COMTEX.
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CONTACT: Latino.com
Lavonne Luquis, 415/357-1172
latino@latinolink.com
or
Manning, Selvage & Lee
Graeme Slattery (for 1stUp.com), 415/364-3819
gslattery@mslpr.com
WEB PAGE: businesswire.com
GEOGRAPHY: CALIFORNIA
INDUSTRY CODE: INTERNET
MARKETING
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Pacific Century CyberWorks, CMGI to form Internet venture
HONG KONG, Jan. 25 (Kyodo) -- By: Agnes Cheung Hong Kong's Pacific
Century CyberWorks Ltd. (PCCW) and U.S. Internet conglomerate CMGI Inc.
said Tuesday they have formed a 50-50 joint venture for
Internet-related business in Asia.
The new company, to be named CMGI Asia and headquartered in Hong Kong,
will in turn set up joint ventures with 18 CMGI majority-owned
operating companies that would have the world's third largest market
reach following American Online Inc. and Microsoft Corp., PCCW and CMGI
officials said.
The first four ventures to be formed will involve Alta Vista, a major
media and commerce network, Engage Technologies, a leading provider of
profile-driven Internet marketing solutions, iCAST, a multimedia online
entertainment company, and 1ClickCharge, a single-click Internet
payment service.
CMGI Asia will hold at least 60% of the shares of each new joint
venture while the remaining 40% will be acquired by the individual CMGI
subsidiary.
PCCW and CMGI made no mention about the money value of their joint
venture.
To fund the new businesses, Pacific Century CyberWorks, the largest
Internet company in Asia outside Japan, raised 380 million U.S. dollars
Tuesday by a placement of 188 million shares at 15.80 H.K. dollars
(about 2 U.S. dollars) apiece.
PCCW anticipates the new ventures will help kick off its fully
converged broadband service to be launched later this year in three
languages -- English, Japanese and Chinese -- and targeted initially at
the Asia-Pacific region.
It is also expected CMGI Asia can provide one-stop shopping services
for clients who want to form on-line companies or shift toward
electronic commerce.
'We would expand all these companies into all of Asia, including the
market of Japan,' PCCW Chairman and Chief Executive Richard Li told a
press conference.
CMGI Executive Vice President Hans Hawrysz said the growing Asian
market is a 'very critical priority' for business expansion.
The partnership between CMGI and PCCW will have a good opportunity to
build the first true global Internet powerhouse and the largest
Internet service in the world, Hawrysz said.
But Li denied that PCCW's latest deal with CMGI is a conflict of
interest with its earlier alliance with Hikari Tsushin Inc., one of
Japan's leading Internet and mobile phone companies.
He said Hikari Tsushin has a different type of setup and serves mainly
as a distributor.
'We see the two ventures as actually complementary,' Li said.
In December, PCCW agreed to acquire 20% of Golden Power International
Holdings Ltd. which is to become the listed vehicle of Hikari Tsushin
in Hong Kong and the holding company for future investments of Hikari
Tsushin in the Asia-Pacific region, excluding Japan.
PCCW and CMGI had a 350 million U.S. dollar equity swap on Sept. 23
last year.
CMGI, listed on the U.S. Nasdaq market, has a market capitalization of
more than 20 billion U.S. dollars, while PCCW's market capitalization
stood at 19.4 billion U.S. dollars on Monday.
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