rhat holding up OK.......
More INSP News :
Brazil's Algar Telecom Leste (ATL) Launches InfoSpace's Wireless
Platform
And Applications in Rio de Janeiro Through w-Aura
BELLEVUE, Wash. and RIO de JANEIRO, Brazil, Mar 26, 2001 /PRNewswire
via
COMTEX/ -- Algar Telecom Leste (ATL), cellular carrier based in Rio de
Janeiro,
Brazil, w-Aura, a premier provider of mobile Internet services in
Brazil, one of
the world's largest economies, and InfoSpace, Inc. (Nasdaq: INSP), a
leading
global provider of cross-platform infrastructure services on wireless,
broadband, and narrowband platforms, today announced that through
w-Aura,
InfoSpace has extended its wireless technology platform to power ATL's
recently
launched wireless services in Rio de Janeiro. In less than two years,
ATL has
captured nearly 40 percent of the wireless services market in the
states of Rio
de Janeiro and Espirito Santo.
(Photo: newscom.com )
InfoSpace's wireless platform provides ATL's subscribers with
local-language
wireless services, short message service (SMS) alerts delivered
directly to the
handset as well as information alerts, such as email and calendar
events.
InfoSpace also provides ATL personalized information management tools,
such as
email, calendar, address book, and "to-do" lists.
"This is a significant international step for InfoSpace as we rapidly
expand
into the Latin American market, and we're thrilled to be working with
w-Aura to
extend our wireless technology platform to Rio de Janeiro and the
vibrant
Brazilian market," said Naveen Jain, chairman and CEO of InfoSpace,
Inc. "ATL
represents the largest of several collaborations we are building in
Brazil,
reinforcing our commitment to enable people everywhere to more
effectively
communicate, conduct commerce, and manage their lives anytime,
anywhere, and on
any device."
"w-Aura enjoys relationships with an array of Latin America's leading
carriers,
and we believe that our relationship with InfoSpace positions us to
offer the
market's premier mobile Internet services," said Joseph Ged, COO of
w-Aura.
"We're pleased to be working with InfoSpace to offer these services to
ATL and
its growing base of Brazilian wireless subscribers."
"We're very satisfied with the collaboration of w-Aura and InfoSpace in
providing our wireless subscribers services they want and need in this
rapidly
growing area of Brazil," said Jose Paulo David, marketing director of
ATL.
"w-Aura's wireless services offer us the opportunity to provide these
best-of-breed services under our own brand."
About Algar Telecom Leste (ATL)
Based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, ATL cellular carrier has become a
leading
player in the country's telecommunications market with more than 1.630
million
subscribers in the important states of Rio de Janeiro and Espirito
Santo. In
less than two years the company obtained 39% of market share. When the
company
was launched in December 1998, its goal was to revolutionize the way
people
communicate. Today, ATL offers products and services that see to the
needs of
the many different customers the carrier has, among corporate and
individual
clients. ATL has a history of innovation. It was the fist carrier to
sell mobile
phones in retail chains, it launched the Fastfone -- a handset
activated, ready
to speak -- and the Perfil plan, a tariff plan easy and simple for it's
customers to understand and use. Now ATL begins a new era in
communications
where wireless content and services such as short message service (SMS)
and WAP
and the creation of a voice portal, Radio ATL, will allow the carrier's
customers new and exciting experiences in telecommunications.
About w-Aura
Having constituted the pioneering business in Brazil to specialize in
Mobile
Internet without direct association with operators or providers,
w-Aura, through
the provision of "Wireless Integrated Portals," aggregates content from
various
providers with the purpose of making available to the end user of
cellular
operators a wide range of mobile applications. The objective of w-Aura
is to
establish strategic partnerships with cellular telephony operators,
enabling the
same to provide services of the highest quality to their clients in the
main
domestic markets, either related to M-commerce or business to business
(B2B). To
such end, the company has an exclusive agreement with the InfoSpace
Company of
the United States, which provides access to Web and Wireless
information and is
known for its worldwide experience with the world's leading
telecommunications
companies. The state-of-the-art platform used thereby allows the
operators to
enjoy a customized utilization of mobile Internet services.
Partnership
w-Aura is formed by a partnership with Canadian company Telesystem
International
Wireless (TIW) and the CVC/Opportunity Equity Partners group.
TIW is a rapidly growing global communications operator, with over 2.9
million
subscribers in Europe and Asia and 1.7 million in Brazil in a cellular
telephony
system.
CVC/Opportunity is one of the major administrators of third party
resources in
Latin America, seeking the best investment alternatives in Brazil. Its
strategy
consists in participation in companies in the sectors of
infrastructure,
telecommunications, Internet and technology. |
