REDMOND, Wash., and KANSAS CITY, Mo, Oct. 5, 2000 — MSN and Sprint PCS, the first portal to launch wireless services in July 1999, today announced a powerful relationship that bring content and services from MSN® to Internet-ready Sprint PCS Phones. Sprint PCS, the nation’s largest 100-percent digital, 100-percent PCS nationwide wireless network, pioneered the wireless Internet as consumers know it today with the nationwide launch of the Sprint PCS Wireless Web last year. With this announcement, Sprint PCS customers will have access to leading services available on MSN, enabling them to stay connected to the people and information they care most about, now through the clarity of their Sprint PCS Internet-ready Phone.
Beginning next week, customers across the country will be able to easily and conveniently access MSN Mobile 2.0 services by using any of more than 15 Internet-ready Sprint PCS Phones. The customizable information from MSN will include the No.1-rated news service MSNBC.com, the award-winning MSN MoneyCentral™ online personal finance service and Expedia.com™ travel services. In addition, over 70 million MSN Hotmail® Web-based e-mail service users will be able to access, respond and manage their e-mail — all from the Sprint PCS Wireless Web. Other MSN services include personalized news, sports, entertainment and weather information as well as stock quotes, e-mail alerts, receipt of instant messages, address book, lottery information, horoscopes, door-to-door driving directions and business listings in real-time.
“Today’s announcement with Sprint PCS strengthens MSN’s position as a leading provider of content and services to the U.S. wireless space,”
said Yusuf Mehdi, vice president of MSN at Microsoft Corp.
“MSN’s efforts to be the leader across a wide range of Internet capable devices continues to gather momentum with our recent launch of MSN Companion and now through our extended reach to mobile users in the U.S. via Sprint PCS Phones.”
“We want our customers to be able to access information virtually any time, anywhere, nationwide,”
said Chip Novick, vice president of Consumer Marketing, Sprint PCS.
“Together, Sprint PCS and MSN have teamed to offer highly personalized and interactive information that consumers and business customers are beginning to demand in this explosive Internet arena.”
According to the Cahners In-Stat Group, the number of U.S. wireless subscribers has grown in the last 15 years from 100,000 to more than 90 million. Cahners predicts that wireless penetration will more than double over the next five years.
“Over the last 15 years, the wireless market has seen astronomical growth. The move to the mobile Internet is the next great frontier. By forming partnerships with leading services providers such as Sprint PCS, MSN is establishing itself to offer new wireless services to their customers,”
said David Jackson, Senior Analyst Wireless Data & Mobile Internet Cahners In-Stat Group.
Sprint PCS launched its Sprint PCS Wireless Web service in late September 1999, offering customers a suite of simple, user-friendly wireless data products and services. By using Internet-ready Sprint PCS Phones, customers can now e-mail, shop, trade stocks online, browse select Internet-based content in real time, receive automatic personalized news features, weather, stock quotes, and e-mail updates, and connect to the Internet or corporate Intranet by using their Sprint PCS Phone in place of a modem. The Sprint PCS Wireless Web is available any time, anywhere on the Sprint PCS 100-percent digital, 100-percent PCS nationwide wireless network.
About Sprint PCS
Sprint PCS operates the largest 100-percent digital, 100-percent PCS nationwide wireless network in the United States, already serving the majority of the nation’s metropolitan areas, including more than 4,000 cities and communities across the country. Sprint PCS has licensed PCS coverage of nearly 270 million people in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. For more information, visit the Sprint PCS web site at http://www.sprintpcs.com/ . Sprint PCS is a wholly-owned subsidiary tracking group of Sprint Corporation trading on the NYSE under the symbol
“PCS.”
Sprint is a global communications company — at the forefront of integrating long-distance, local and wireless communications services, and a large carrier of Internet traffic. Sprint built and operates the United States’ first nationwide all-digital, fiber-optic network and is a leader in advanced data communications services. Sprint has $20 billion in annual revenues and serves more than 20 million business and residential customers.
About MSN
MSN is an integrated network of content and services that help consumers get more from the Web — any time, any place and from any device. MSN is the most popular destination on the Internet, attracting 201 million unique visitors worldwide during June, and is available in 33 markets in 17 languages — a broader global presence than any other portal. MSN Internet Access is the highly rated, fast and reliable way for consumers to get on the Web, now with 3 million subscribers. MSN delivers The Everyday Web™ experience by providing more than just the basics for new Internet users, with benefits for more advanced users looking for richer functionality. Best-of-breed services include MSN Hotmail, the world’s largest e-mail system, with more than 67 million active accounts; MSN Messenger Service, the fastest-growing instant messaging service, with more than 18 million users; MSN Search, the second most popular search service on the Web; MSN Mobile, the customizable wireless information service; the award-winning MSN MoneyCentral™
online personal finance service; MSN eShop, the one-stop online shopping resource; MSN Custom Web Sites, the easy way to share information on the Web; and many other widely used services that make MSN a leading innovator of Internet technologies. MSN is located on the Web at http://www.msn.com/ .
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software — any time, any place and on any device.
Microsoft, MSN, MoneyCentral, Hotmail, Expedia.com The Everyday Web are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
Expedia and Expedia.com are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Expedia Inc. in the United States and Canada.
The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
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