MYWEB INC COM - Chinese Internet Goes Broadband
New York, New York, Sep. 06, 2000
Market News Publishing via COMTEX)
The Chinese Internet market continues to develop by leaps and bounds. The number of
China's Internet users has doubled every six months for the past three years. By
2005, over 200 million Chinese are expected to be online. The demand for
high-speed Internet access will grow as well, as both the corporate China and
high-end residential users start demanding increased speed.
To-day, one of the leading communications hubs in Asia Pacific's emerging
Internet markets, San Francisco-based MyWeb Inc.com (AMEX: MWB), announced that
it has begun providing broadband Internet access for China's residential users.
Through its agreement with Guanghuan System Integration Co., MyWeb will supply
broadband set-top boxes to Donghuan Plaza, marking its official entrance to the
Chinese residential broadband market.
"We believe that set-top based broadband Internet access is the fastest way to
penetrate the Chinese marketplace. The majority of the country's Internet hungry
population surf the net from home, but can not afford to buy PCs, which are
still far too expensive. However, almost all families in major Chinese cities
have a TV-set. As a matter of fact, there are over 300 million TV sets in China.
MyWeb gives them the opportunity to buy - or even lease - one of our set-top
boxes and enjoy Internet access with just a low monthly payment," says Nin
Contreras, CEO of MyWeb Inc.com.
According to Contreras, many in China foresee extremely high growth potential in
the broadband market over the next few years as more and more people realize the
benefits of high speed access at lower prices. This is evident in the fact that
systems integrators have already begun installing LANs in Chinese cities even
before they are generating revenues.
Just like in the United States, the supply will drive adoption in China.
According to a study published by Forrester Research last Friday, U.S. broadband
adoption has been highest in cities served by broadband leaders Pacific Bell
(NYSE: SBC), Cox Communications (NYSE: COX), Broadwing (NYSE: BRW) and MediaOne
(NYSE: UMX), (NYSE: XVF). MyWeb hopes to position itself in China much the same
way these broadband pioneers have in America.
"We believe the same type of growth will take place in China, making it
potentially the largest broadband market in the world. Our broadband set-top
boxes enable users to surf the Internet at speeds ranging from 2M BPS up to 10M
BPS, dozens of times faster than through a traditional dial-up connection.
However, residential customers will actually save money. Since accessing the
Internet takes place through their cable-TV connection, Chinese consumers can
avoid paying the huge fees that telecommunications companies usually charge for
dial-up access," adds Contreras.
Local governments are beginning to recognize the opportunities as well. For
example, Shanghai's municipal government is committed to installing broadband
cables into four million homes and Beijing is currently in the process of
bringing broadband to over two million households. That's why we are taking such
a proactively stance, wanting to be first-to-market and establishing MyWeb as a
leader in the residential broadband Internet access market," explains Contreras.
In many ways, MyWeb is in a similar situation in China as Microsoft (NASDAQ:
MSFT) is with its new MSN Explorer in the U.S. In the U.S., America Online has
become the market leader for dial-up Internet access, and it is generally
believed to be too late and too expensive for Microsoft to lure large numbers of
AOL users into switching their accounts to MSN. However, according to The
Forrester Brief, issued on Friday, the real battleground will be on the
broadband front. Similarly, MyWeb doesn't want to compete with government
telecoms in the Internet Service Provider market. Instead, by providing a
cost-effective way to access the net, it aims at grabbing a significant market
share in higher-margin markets.
And, just like MSN Explorer will be a blend of Internet Explorer, MSN and Web
content and Internet access, MyWeb offers high-speed Internet access through its
MyWeb-branded set-top boxes and then directs customers instantly to its content
rich communications hub.
In addition, MyWeb's hub can be customized and localized to provide both
off-line and online services for business and residential customers. For
example, busy executives can access various business applications through
MyWeb's TV-based Internet access. Residential users, in turn, enjoy a wide
variety of local services from car maintenance or health care services to
apartment locators or dating services.
About MyWeb MyWeb is an integrated communications company that facilitates
Internet usage through television set-top boxes and wireless applications in the
Far East, which are affordable alternatives to personal computers. The
communications hub operates the leading TV portal in Asia Pacific's emerging
Internet markets. Its branded set-top boxes and online services allow customers
to use either their mobile phones or televisions to connect to the Internet.
MyWeb set-top box users can navigate the Web via a remote control or wireless
keyboard. After connecting to the Internet, customers are instantly directed to
MyWeb Online Service's (MOS) Web site, where they are able to view customized
news, entertainment, financial and educational information, and a variety of
other lifestyle-based content.
MyWeb is headquartered in San Francisco, with operational and representative
offices in Singapore, Malaysia and China. More information on MyWeb can be found
on the company's Web site at www.mywebinc.com.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995: This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning
of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including statements that include
the words "believes," "expects," "anticipates" or similar expressions. Such
forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and
other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of
MyWebInc.com (the Company) to differ materially from those expressed or implied
by such forward-looking statements. (Such factors include, among others, the
risk factors contained in the company's Annual Reports and other filings with
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The Company will remain dependent upon future financing for its growth and
development, and for it to successfully implement its business plan. No
statement contained herein should be construed as indicating that such financing
is or will be available, and if available, will be on terms favorable to the
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Company assumes no responsibility to update the information included herein for
events occurring after the date hereof. Merger Communications (Merger) is a
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reliable, but cannot guarantee that the statements presented herein are accurate
or complete. Merger, its officers, directors and employees own forty five
thousand shares of the Company's common (144) stock, of which thirty thousand is
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Company, Merger's compensation for its financial media relations services, which
includes the preparation and distribution of press releases, consists of fifteen
hundred dollars cash and twelve hundred and fifty shares of the Company's
restricted stock per month for the 1-year period ending 9/28/00. Merger
typically has a long position in the securities of the companies in which it
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TEL: (713) 572-2560 David Drake, Merger Communications Inc.
TEL: (713) 572-2560 David Drake, Merger Communications Inc
E-MAIL: ddrake@mergerusa.com
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