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Strategies & Market Trends : Cents and Sensibility - Kimberly and Friends' Consortium -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: dowen who wrote (4022)	5/6/1999 11:21:00 AM
From: SIW	Respond to of 108040

CLWK News...substantial revenue increase...production of impressive set top box to be installed in already contracted homes... Company Press Release ClearWorks.net Introduces Proprietary Set-Top Boxes for its Bundled Digital Services Unique Device Combines Personal Computer With Set-Top Box HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 6, 1999--ClearWorks.net (OTC BB:CLWK) announced today that it has begun production of a proprietary set-top box for the delivery of its bundled digital services to homeowners in new residential communities. The company's unique set-top box design will provide homeowners with the full functionality of a personal computer, with the integrated ability to deliver high quality video streams utilizing Internet Protocol (IP) technology. The boxes will provide homeowners with functionality far beyond that of traditional cable TV set-top boxes by providing a complement of expanded services that are unique to the industry. ''It's important,'' said ClearWorks CEO Michael T. McClere, ''that we're able to deliver extended functionality to our customers, which is key to the expanded level of services we contemplate. With our set-top boxes we can deliver HDTV, video game rentals, video-on-demand and high-speed Internet access, all integrated into a single device.'' The added functionality should also increase the estimated average revenues the company realizes from homeowners by approximately 30 percent. That means that ClearWorks' estimated revenues from the first two contracted communities should increase from approximately $61 million to nearly $80 million. The ClearWorks set-top box will carry the ClearWorks.net logo and will have its own proprietary design. ClearWorks will provide the set-top boxes on a lease arrangement as part of the bundled digital services that it delivers to new homeowners in the communities it services, starting in Houston and expanding to other major cities around the country. McClere added that ''Every one of our homeowners will have one of our set-top boxes at move-in. Our box is truly unique, combining the essential elements of a personal computer with those of a traditional set-top box. In other words, what we've done is to integrate the world of cable TV with that of personal computers.'' The boxes also enable ClearWorks to sell advertising on the network and use a screen-saver mode to broadcast the messages on the community Intranet system. McClere estimates that advertising revenue from the set-top boxes will amount to about $25 per subscriber per year, in addition to the extra revenue of $15 per household per month that will be generated by the lease of the set-top box. ''What we're really providing our subscribers,'' McClere says, ''is a state-of-the-art full-format personal computer, as well as the ability to display Internet Protocol TV directly to their television sets. That will set ClearWorks apart from every other service provider.'' The ClearWorks set-top box can also be upgraded to accommodate an integrated DVD player. It has an infrared keyboard as well as a remote control, so that a subscriber can do word processing from the couch or the kitchen table, without the need for a corded connection. ClearWorks is currently installing its package of bundled digital services in two new communities in the Houston area, the 1,500-home development known as Canyon Gate at Cinco Ranch west of Houston, and the 1,200-home Canyon Gate at Northpointe development north of Houston. The first 100 homes in the Cinco Ranch subdivision have already been occupied. ClearWorks recently announced that it has reorganized its operations into two wholly owned subsidiaries -- ClearWorks Residential Services Inc. and ClearWorks Commercial Services Inc. The residential entity will continue to develop the concept of bundled digital services in housing communities, while the new commercial services activity will bring the concept to office buildings and commercial structures. Certain statements in this release are forward-looking. Although ClearWorks.net (the Company) believes its expectations are based on reasonable assumptions within the bounds of its knowledge of its business and operations, there can be no assurance that actual results will not differ materially from its expectations. Merger Communications (Merger) is a media relations firm employed by the Company. Statements and opinions presented here represent the views of the Company, not Merger, as the release is based on information provided by the Company. Merger and the Company believe that all information in this release has been obtained from sources considered reliable, but cannot guarantee that the statements presented herein are accurate or complete. Merger's compensation for its media-relations services consists of a fee and stock. Merger can have a long position in the securities of the companies in which it distributes information for media use, and may be buying or selling securities in the course of its regular business.