Vodafone.net Service Deployed With iPlanet(TM) Messaging Products at Vodafone
Interactive in the United Kingdom
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Jan. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Vodafone AirTouch and the
Sun-Netscape Alliance today announced their plan for the Alliance to provide a
range of iPlanet(TM) products including infrastructure and communications
software for Vodafone AirTouch's global network of wireless carriers.
This announcement is part of a broader non-binding Letter of Intent,
subject to further negotiation and the closing of a definitive agreement,
between Sun Microsystems and Vodafone AirTouch. Sun Microsystems will sell
hardware products, Java technology, software, professional services, support
and education to Vodafone AirTouch. These announcements will allow Vodafone
AirTouch to provide carrier-grade Internet services customized to individual
preferences for use anytime, in any country and in any language through all of
Vodafone AirTouch's partner networks and to other markets where appropriate.
Vodafone AirTouch has worked with the Alliance as a design partner for
development of innovative, wireless access to the Alliance's full-featured
communications products. Wireless users will benefit from convenient,
device-appropriate access. They will save time with a single mail and calendar
store, have the ability to manage information more easily and with greater
privacy, will have rapid access to new services and will have more choices at
lower costs.
"We chose the Sun-Netscape Alliance due to their proven track record and
market leadership in providing an integrated, scalable platform for
community-building services including innovative Internet-based mail and
calendar servers. We built Vodafone.net using the Alliance's customizable
interfaces for both wired and wireless clients. The Alliance's integrated
management tools minimized the cost and complexity of constructing
Vodafone.net and fully supported our time-to-market goals," said Mike
Caldwell, corporate communications manager, Vodafone AirTouch.
"Industry estimates suggest that wireless usage will double in the next
two years and the need for the rapid adoption of new, Internet-ready devices
is driving the convergence of Internet and wireless networks," said Stuart
Wells, senior vice president for Infrastructure Products, Sun-Netscape
Alliance. "Vodafone AirTouch's global reach and vision perfectly complements
our goal to provide an extremely scalable, high-performance single server
architecture for wireless and wireline access at an extremely low cost per
user."
Today's announcement builds upon an existing relationship between Vodafone
AirTouch and the Sun-Netscape Alliance. Vodafone Interactive, through its
internet based products, is winning new customers today with innovative
messaging services like SMS (short message service) notification of new email
messages; email alerts about personalized news events; anytime, anywhere news
access; and sending brief emails from their Vodafone handsets, all in addition
to on-line email from their Vodafone Interactive message center. These
capabilities were built using the iPlanet messaging server and its web and
wireless mail features.
About the Sun-Netscape Alliance
America Online, Inc. (NYSE: AOL) and Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW)
formed the Sun-Netscape Alliance in order to provide comprehensive
user-friendly business and e-commerce solutions and services to business
partners and companies competing in the Net Economy. The Alliances product
portfolio offers its customers the markets most scalable and integrated
software and a family of production-ready e-commerce applications. The
products are available for the most common platforms on the market, including
DEC, HP, IBM, Linux, SGI, Microsoft Windows and Sun Microsystems. The
Alliances products include: messaging and calendar, web, application,
directory and certificate servers. The Alliance also offers production-ready
applications for e-commerce, including commercial exchange, procurement,
selling and billing. More information can be found at http://www.iplanet.com
About Vodafone AirTouch
Vodafone AirTouch is the world's largest mobile communications company
serving more than 35.5 million proportionate customers in 24 countries on five
continents and is the second largest UK FTSE company. Vodafone is the UK's
leading mobile operator with more than 7.94 million customers nation-wide.
Vodafone has led the market for mobile data and text messaging in the UK with
more than 86 million text messages being handled during December.
About America Online, Inc.
Founded in 1985, America Online, Inc., based in Dulles, Virginia, is the
world's leader in interactive services, Web brands, Internet technologies, and
e-commerce services. America Online, Inc. operates: two worldwide Internet
services, America Online, with more than 18 million members, and CompuServe,
with approximately 2 million members; several leading Internet brands
including ICQ and Digital City, Inc.; the Netscape Netcenter and AOL.COM
portals; and the Netscape Navigator and Communicator browsers. Through its
strategic alliance with Sun Microsystems, the Company develops and offers
easy-to-deploy, end-to-end e-commerce and enterprise solutions for companies
operating in the Net Economy.
About Sun Microsystems
Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision -- The Network Is The
Computer(TM) -- has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc., to its position as a
leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that
power the Internet and allow companies worldwide to ".com" their businesses.
With $12.4 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than 170
countries and on the World Wide Web at http://sun.com.
NOTE: Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Java, iPlanet, and all Sun,
Java, and iPlanet based trademarks and logos are trademarks or registered
trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. Netscape
and the Netscape N logo are registered trademarks of Netscape Communications
Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. Other Netscape logos, product
names, and service names are also trademarks of Netscape Communications
Corporation, which may be registered in other countries.
SOURCE Sun-Netscape Alliance
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Related links:
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Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/585525.html or fax,
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CONTACT:
John Elias of KVO Public Relations,
650-919-2023, for the Sun-Netscape Alliance; or Suzanne Burnip of
Sun-Netscape Alliance in the U.K., +44-208-564-5125; or Tim
Brown, Investor Relations Director, or Mike Caldwell, Corporate
Communications Director of Vodafone AirTouch in the UK,
+44-1635-33251
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