To: rbenigni who wrote (728 ) 7/27/2000 2:00:34 PM From: J Stone Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 948 Roberto, Life is indeed beautiful! Telepanel Announces Key Orders For Electronic Shelf Labels TORONTO, CANADA--Telepanel Systems Inc. (TSE:TLS and OTCBB:TLSXF) announced today a number of orders for its electronic shelf label (ESL) systems with retailers in Europe and North America. In Europe, Coop Atlantique will install ESLs in the first of its stores in France this October with the intent of installing ESLs throughout its 41 STOC stores over the next year. Coop Atlantique operates over 350 stores in France under a number of banners including STOC and Carrefour. Coop Atlantique believes that Telepanel ESLs offer a number of advantages to its operations and to its customers. Francois Fleury, Vice President of Development for Coop Atlantique, indicates, "we are not simply installing ESLs to make a test. We want to make a successful installation upon which to base its generalization throughout our STOC stores." In North America, IBM has ordered ESLs for two of its top tier retail customers for installation this fall. These orders are for initial installations in anticipation of technology rollouts from these retailers. As ESLs are a competitive advantage, the retailers will not be disclosed at this time. "IBM's entry into the ESL market has already received wide attention from a number of retail segments, expanding beyond grocery retailers", said Chris Skillen, President and CEO of Telepanel. "These orders are a watershed endorsement of our alliance with IBM and our world-leading ESL product. IBM made a major announcement release of the Telepanel ESLs during June, making our product generally available to its sales force. The activity level in top tier customers has never been higher, and the forecasts we have received indicate that the pace of adopting ESLs is dramatically increasing. Given the size of investment ESLs represent for these retailers, these are large decisions for the retailers and it is very clear that IBM's presence in the market is precipitating these decisions." Telepanel is the leader in developing wireless electronic shelf labeling systems for retail stores. Telepanel ESLs are placed on the edge of store shelves to show a product's price and other information. Prices are changed by a radio communications link from the store's cash registers, to provide accurate and up-to-date pricing. Telepanel's systems are integrated with the leading 2.4 GHz RF LANs to allow retailers to take advantage of their investment in IEEE standard in-store RF networks and extend their use to include electronic shelf labels. "A significant advantage for these major retailers is the coupling of Telepanel ESLs with the Spectrum 24 product line from Symbol Technologies - both frequency hopping and the newly announced direct sequencing products", noted Chris Skillen. Approximately 2,000,000 Telepanel wireless ESLs are presently installed and operating throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. Telepanel installations are at such premier supermarket chains as Adam's Super Food Stores, A & P, Stop & Shop, Loblaws, Big Y, Reasor's, Doll's, Brown's, Stew Leonard's, Shaw's, Grand Union, Wakefern, Berks, Ellington, Port Richmond, Champion, Leclerc, Intermarche, SPAR, and Super U, and at Universal Studios, Hollywood. This press release includes forward looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements do not constitute historical facts and involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the possibility that adverse economic or other factors may cause actual results to be materially different than current estimates and projections. Additional detailed information concerning a number of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the information contained in this press release is contained in the reports and other documents of Telepanel filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time.