Georgia to Become First City in the Country to Provide Free Internet Access
Over The TV
TREVOSE, Pa., March 22 /PRNewswire/ --
WorldGate Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: WGAT), the leading provider of high
performance Internet access through the TV, using the existing standard cable
set-top converter and cable infrastructure, today announced a partnership with
Charter Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: CHTR) and the City of LaGrange, Georgia
to provide all of the city's cable TV households with free Internet access
utilizing WorldGate's Internet on EVERY TV(SM) Service. The LaGrange Internet
initiative is the first program of its kind in the country.
Through this collaborative effort, all residents of LaGrange with cable TV
access will receive the full array of WorldGate's interactive television
services, including Internet access, e-mail, chat, interactive programming and
Channel HyperLinking(SM), at no-cost for at least one year. The WorldGate(SM)
Service will be deployed on the Motorola (NYSE: MOT) DCT 2000 set-top box.
With the commitment and financial assistance of both WorldGate and Charter
Communications, the City of LaGrange intends this initiative to address the
issues and concerns resulting from the Digital Divide study released by the
U.S. Department of Commerce last year. The study showed that "Households with
incomes of $75,000 and higher are more than twenty times more likely to have
access to the Internet than those at the lowest income levels, and more than
nine times more likely to have a computer at home."
"We are very excited to be a part of this incredible opportunity aimed at
empowering an entire community with interactive television and the Internet,"
said Hal Krisbergh, Chairman and CEO of WorldGate. "WorldGate is focused on
delivering the resources and capabilities of the Internet and interactive
television to everyone, regardless of geographic location, economic barriers
or the burdening cost ofa PC. To be able to accomplish this for a whole city
is something that everyone at WorldGate is very proud to be involved with."
Through a special leaseback agreement with Charter, LaGrange's hybrid
fiber coax (HFC) network will support a multitude of emerging communications
technologies for the home, school and office. In 1998, Charter Communications
and the City of LaGrange entered into an agreement by which the City financed
and constructed a state-of-the-art, two-way HFC network. The innovative
public-private collaborative between Charter and the City has allowed LaGrange
citizens to enjoy broadband's enhanced communications opportunities far
earlier than many other communities around the country.
About WorldGate Communications, Inc.
Headquartered near Philadelphia, WorldGate, a leader in the development of
interactive television, was the first commercially deployed service that
enabled cable subscribers to access a full array of high-performance, low-cost
Internet services and e-mail on their cable television sets and the cable
television infrastructure rather than a personal computer and telephone line.
WorldGate is currently deployed domestically in cable systems owned by Buckeye
CableSystems, Charter Communications, Click! Network, Comcast Cable
Communications, Massillon Cable and Prestige Cable. In addition, WorldGate
has international deployment and trial agreements with 19 multiple system
operators in 13 countries worldwide. The WorldGate(SM) Service marries
WorldGate's proprietary technology with the cable television platform to use
either the existing advanced analog or digital cable converter along with a
remote control or wireless keyboard to bring the Internet to cable
subscribers. Using advanced analog converters, the Service operates at more
than 2 times the speed of a standard 56 Kbps telephone modem. With digital
converters, the Service operates at speeds up to 38 Mbps, over 3.5 times
faster than a typical cable modem. In addition, the Company's Channel
HyperLinking technology allows viewers instant access from the program they
are watching to a related Web site or locally available information sources.
For more information, interested parties may go to www.wgate.com. WorldGate's
stock is traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol WGAT.
Channel HyperLinking and Internet on EVERY TV are service marks of
WorldGate Communications, Inc.
This press release may contain forward-looking statements that are made
pursuant to the safe-harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Expressions of future goals and similar expressions
including, without limitation, expressions using the terminology "may,"
"will," "believes," "plans," "expects," "anticipates," "predicts,"
"forecasts," and expressions which otherwise reflect something other than
historical fact are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These
forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties,
including the timely development and market acceptance of products and
technologies and other factors described in the Company's filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. The actual results may differ materially
from any forward-looking statements due to such risks and uncertainties. The
Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking
statements in order to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after
the date of this release.
SOURCE WorldGate Communications, Inc.
-0- 03/22/2000
/CONTACT: Louise Mooney of JLM Partners, 206-381-3600, or
Communicationslrm@jlmpartners.com, for WorldGate, or Fran Daly of WorldGate,
215-354-5216, or fdaly@wgate.com/
/Web site: wgate.com /
(WGAT CHTR MOT)
CO: WorldGate Communications, Inc.; Charter Communications, Inc.
ST: Pennsylvania, Georgia
IN: MLM TLS
SU: JVN
TA
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