Proximus Selects Siemens for Commercial WAP Launch Using Phone.com's Platform
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Sept. 20 /PRNewswire/ --
Phone.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: PHCM), a leading provider of mobile Internet
software, application and services, in conjunction with Siemens Information
and Communication Networks Group, has been chosen by Proximus-Belgacom Mobile
to implement a commercial Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)-based platform.
Under the terms of the agreement, Siemens has provided a mobile Internet
solution to Proximus using the Phone.com(TM) UP.Link(TM) Server Suite.
Launched April 17th, Proximus began to offer commercial wireless Internet
services to its now over 2.5 million mobile customers throughout Belgium.
The new Proximus services will be accessed through mobile phones equipped
with a WAP-compatible microbrowser such as the Phone.com UP.Browser(TM)
microbrowser or others that are compliant with the most recent WAP technical
specification. Phone.com's UP.Link Server software enables Proximus to offer
mobile customers access to a wide range of Internet-based information services
such as travel, news, sports, weather, lottery, media information, horoscope
and telephone directory.
"Phone.com software delivers a WAP-compatible platform which will allow us
to offer powerful services like news, travel information and horoscopes," said
Sebastien Evrard, Product Manager at of Proximus in Belgium. "As we deploy
WAP microbrowser-enabled handsets, we expect to see a tremendous growth in
services and use of the network."
The Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is an open, global specification
that empowers mobile users with wireless devices to easily access and interact
with information and services. Phone.com was a founding member of the WAP
Forum, the industry association comprised of over 300 member companies. The
forum has developed the de-facto world standard for wireless information and
telephony services on digital mobile phones.
"European telecommunications companies are leaders in innovative
Web-enabled wireless services and Siemens is now one of the most important
players in the system integration of such solutions. Indeed, Siemens is an
innovator with respect to WAP as well as network and mobile business
solutions. As far as this project is concerned Siemens supplied and
integrated the WAP infrastructure and supported the development of several
applications. Through Siemens' alliance with Phone.com, we are able to
deliver these comprehensive solutions to operators like Proximus", said Paul
Van Steenvoort, account manager of Siemens Information and Communications
Belgium.
"Phone.com is a leader in the GSM market for WAP products, with a rapidly
expanding footprint. We are determined to help GSM operators around the world
deliver the best new services with the most benefit to their subscribers,"
said Mike Mulica, Senior VP, World-wide Sales, Consultant and Support for
Phone.com, Europe.
The Phone.com UP.Link Server Suite is in its fourth generation, providing
a scalable and robust implementation of the WAP protocol suite. Since 1997,
Phone.com's solutions have been licensed to 77 of the world's leading wireless
network operators.
About Belgacom
Created in 1994, Proximus/Belgacom Mobile is the leading mobile telephone
company in Belgium. Every day, over 2.5 million customers use the first
dual-band network 900 - 1800 MHz activated in Belgium, which offers superior
quality coverage to more than 99% of the population, outdoors, in cars, inside
as well as in the stations and tunnels of the Brussels metro system. All
Proximus customers, subscribers as well as Pay&GO cardholders, also benefit
from the numerous services included in their subscription: free consultation
of their voice mail from their GSM in Belgium, which was initiated by Proximus
this past October 4; billing by the second starting with the 61st second.
About Siemens Information and Communications
The Information and Communications segment (Information and
Communications), with annual sales exceeding 25 billion euros and some 100,000
employees, is one of the world's major providers of products, networks and
services for the converging markets of IT and telecom and a pioneer in the
field of electronic and mobile business.
It includes 3 groups:
* Information and Communication Networks (59,000 employees, $13 billion
sales): voice- and data networks and solutions based on the IP
protocol;
* Information and Communication Mobile (20,000 employees, $5 billion):
products, networks and solutions for mobile communication;
* Siemens Business Services (34,000 employees, $5.5 billion): IT
services ranging from maintenance, consulting and system integration to
outsourcing.
Siemens furthermore holds a 50% share in the joint venture Fujitsu Siemens
Computers, which markets a full range of computers (notebooks, PC's, servers).
In Belgium and Luxembourg, Siemens Information and Communication achieved
sales of over 30 billion BEF and currently employs ca. 3000 people.
About Phone.com
Phone.com, Inc. is a leading provider of software, applications, and
services that enable the delivery of Internet-based information and voice
services to mass-market wireless telephones. Using its software, wireless
subscribers have access to Internet- and corporate intranet-based services,
including email, news, stocks, weather, travel and sports. In addition,
subscribers have access via their wireless telephones to network operators'
intranet-based telephony services, which may include over-the-air activation,
call management, billing history information, pricing plan subscription and
voice message management. Phone.com is headquartered in Silicon Valley,
California and has regional offices in Belfast, Copenhagen, Hong Kong, London,
Madrid, Paris, Rome, Seoul and Tokyo. Visit http://www.phone.com for more
information.
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters
discussed in this news release are forward-looking statements involving risks
and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from
those in such forward-looking statements. Potential risks and uncertainties
include, but are not limited to, Phone.com's limited operating history,
potential fluctuations in Phone.com's operating results, uncertainties related
to Phone.com's long sales cycle and reliance on a small number of customers,
Phone.com's dependence on the acceptance of its products by network operators
and wireless subscribers, Phone.com's ability to adequately address the
rapidly-evolving market for delivery of Internet-based services through
wireless telephones, the need to achieve widespread integration of Phone.com's
browser in wireless telephones, competition from companies with substantially
greater financial, technical, marketing and distribution resources and the
ability of Phone.com to manage a complex set of engineering, marketing and
distribution relationships. Further information regarding these and other
risks are included in Phone.com's Form 10-Q for quarters ended September 30,
1999, December 31, 1999, and March 31, 2000, and in its prospectus dated
November 16, 1999 and in its other filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission.
Phone.com, the Phone.com logo and the family of terms carrying the "UP."
prefix are trademarks, and UP.Browser is a registered trademark of Phone.com,
Inc. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the properties of
their respective owners.
SOURCE Phone.com
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Related links:
http://www.phone.com
CONTACT:
Masaaki Yamamoto of Phone.com Japan K.K.,
+81-3-5325-9703, or masaaki@corp.phone.com; or Rowan Benecke of
PR21, 415-369-8102, or rowan_benecke@pr21.com; or Kylie Trevitt
of Text 100 Ltd., +44-208-996-4172, or kyliet@text100.co.uk, both
for Phone.com
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