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Powertel Selects InfoSpace to Provide Platform for Next Generation Wireless Internet Services
MONDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2000 8:30:00 AM EST
BELLEVUE, Wash. and WEST POINT, Ga., Oct 30, 2000 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Powertel (Nasdaq: PTEL), with the largest contiguous PCS network in the Southeastern United States, today announced that its management has chosen InfoSpace (Nasdaq: INSP), a leading global provider of cross-platform merchant and consumer infrastructure services on wireless, broadband, and narrowband platforms, to provide Powertel with a platform of mobile Internet services, including the ability to provide personalized information to its customers' mobile phones.
"We chose InfoSpace because there is a strong and growing consumer demand for personalized and easy-to-use wireless Internet services, and InfoSpace's platform and suite of services allow us to provide these services to our customers," said Paul Hanna, vice president of product marketing, Powertel. "Our customers can use the My Powertel wireless portal as their one-stop-shop for not only account and billing information, but also a wide range of cutting-edge wireless Internet services provided by InfoSpace. The flexibility of InfoSpace's platform adds real value to our service, helping our customers rely on their Powertel phones as a convenient source of personalized information -- anytime, anywhere."
"InfoSpace's wide range of wireless services and the flexibility of our platform make our infrastructure the first choice for carriers," said Arun Sarin, chief executive officer of InfoSpace. "This partnership will allow Powertel to further enhance the value of its service, helping create a long-term relationship with its mobile customers, under the Powertel brand. It also builds upon InfoSpace's vision of enabling people to more effectively communicate, collaborate and manage their lives anytime, anywhere, and on any device."
This agreement adds to InfoSpace's expanding global reach, extending its leadership in the wireless carrier market. InfoSpace currently works with more than 20 wireless carriers worldwide, including Verizon Wireless, AT&T Wireless, Cingular Wireless and ALLTEL, and device and equipment manufacturers such as Nokia, Nortel and Ericsson. InfoSpace's wireless services platform serves as the underlying infrastructure for 88 percent of the US subscriber base.
About InfoSpace's Wireless Services
InfoSpace's wireless Internet services are device-independent and provide a platform which enables carriers to support a variety of protocols such as WAP, PQA's for Palm VII and VXML, in addition to HDML, SMTP and SMS. InfoSpace's services are compatible with a variety of wireless gateway technologies including Nokia, Phone.com, CMG, and Ericsson.
InfoSpace's wireless Internet services are the industry's first end-to-end private-label solution enabling wireless carriers, device manufacturers and software application providers to develop a comprehensive mobile Internet offering optimized for their customers. The integrated platform of services provides mobile users with one place to get personalized information, commerce capabilities, communication features and location-based services.
About Powertel, Inc.
Powertel, Inc. provides 100 percent digital PCS wireless services in its licensed service area in 12 states in the Southeast -- one of the largest contiguous PCS networks in the Southeastern United States. Through its affiliation with other GSM carriers, Powertel's coverage extends across the United States to most major cities and into much of Canada to a population of more than 180 million people. Powertel's core markets are in 34 Southeastern metropolitan areas and along the major highway corridors that connect them. Athens, Atlanta, Augusta, Columbus, Birmingham, Chattanooga, Jackson, Jacksonville, Knoxville, Lexington, Louisville, Macon, Memphis, Nashville and Savannah are among the municipalities in Powertel's licensed service area. These areas have an estimated population of more than 25 million people. Visit the Powertel web site at www.powertel.com.
About InfoSpace, Inc.
InfoSpace is a leading global provider of cross-platform merchant and consumer infrastructure services on wireless, broadband, and narrowband platforms. The company provides commerce, information, and communication infrastructure services to wireless devices, merchants, and Web sites. InfoSpace's affiliates encompass a global network of wireless, PC, and non-PC devices, including cellular phones, pagers, screen telephones, television set-top boxes, online kiosks and personal digital assistants. These include relationships with AT&T Wireless, Intel, Ericsson, Nokia, Mitsui, Acer America, Hasbro, National Discount Brokers, and Bloomberg LLC. InfoSpace's affiliate network also consists of more 3,200 Web sites that include AOL, Microsoft, Disney's GO Network, NBC's Snap, Lycos, DoubleClick and ABC LocalNet, among others. InfoSpace is also positioned to tap the market for broadband wired (DSL and cable) and broadband wireless (2.5G and 3G) services, such as interactive gaming, television and other entertainment services. In addition, the company recently added full back end payment processing to InfoSpace's existing commerce services, allowing InfoSpace to offer everything a merchant needs to conduct the entire lifecycle of a transaction, one of the key drivers of mobile commerce adoption.
This release contains forward-looking statements relating to the development of the Company's products and services and future operating results, including statements regarding the Company's agreement with Powertel, that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. The words "believe," "expect," "intend," "anticipate," variations of such words, and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, but their absence does not mean that the statement is not forward-looking. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Factors that could affect the Company's actual results include the progress and costs of the development of our products and services and the timing of market acceptance of those products and services. A more detailed description of certain factors that could affect actual results include, but are not limited to, those discussed in InfoSpace's Annual Report on Form 10-K, in the section entitled "Factors Affecting InfoSpace's Operating Results, Business Prospects and Market Price of Stock." Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release. InfoSpace undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, events or circumstances after the date of this release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events |
