Netscape and Five Regional Bell Internet Units Forge Marketing Pact and Plan Launch of Netscape ISP Select For Easy Choice of Internet Service Providers
Ameritech, Bell Atlantic, BellSouth, Pacific Bell and Southwestern Bell Choose Popular Netscape Navigator As Default; Customers Receive Free Access To Netscape In-Box Direct News ServiceMountain View, CA (December 10, 1996) - Netscape Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:NSCP) and five Regional Bell Internet companies today announced a marketing agreement that establishes Netscape Navigator [TM] software as the default browser for their services, allows Internet users to easily select these telephone companies' Internet services through the new Netscape ISP Select [TM] and provides their customers with free access to a rich set of content through the Netscape In-Box Direct [TM] service.
Ameritech Interactive Media Services, Bell Atlantic Internet Solutions, BellSouth.net, Pacific Bell Internet Services and Southwestern Bell Internet Services will use Netscape Navigator, the market-leading Internet browser, as the default browser for their Internet access services. Together, the companies represent a potential market of 72 million consumers and businesses in 26 states, including Washington, D.C., and in 15 of the nation's 20 largest markets.
Breakthrough Netscape ISP Select Service Offers Easy Way To Choose Local Telephone Companies As Providers
Netscape's new ISP Select service will allow people to select an Internet service provider (ISP), create a personal Internet account and establish an Internet connection easily and quickly. ISP Select will make it easy for customers to select the five regional Bell Internet companies for Internet access services. In addition, ISP Select users will automatically receive free access to premium content from more than 40 information providers who are part of the Netscape In-Box Direct [TM] Service.
ISP Select will be accessible through a section of Netscape's Internet site which will take users through the necessary steps for easily creating an account, selecting an ISP or choosing a different ISP.
After users enter their area code and phone number, they will be presented with a list of service providers with coverage in their particular area. ISP Select enables users to create a new account automatically with their local telephone company, directly from their computer. Accounts are fully active at the completion of the sign-up process. This new service is designed to meet the needs of business users wanting to establish home accounts, new customers looking to choose an ISP and users who want to establish an Internet connection.
Future plans include offering the ability for ISP Select users who choose their local telephone company's Internet access service to bill their Internet fees directly to their phone bill. Netscape ISP Select also provides the local telephone companies with an easy way to market information about their services directly to potential customers.
"ISP Select is a breakthrough in customer choice, providing easy selection of and access to leading Internet service providers, such as the regional Bell companies," said Jim Barksdale, president and chief executive officer of Netscape. "In addition, the selection of Netscape Navigator as the default browser by leading telecommunications companies such as Ameritech, Bell Atlantic, BellSouth, Pacific Bell and Southwestern Bell underscores the widespread appeal of Netscape software. This agreement will give millions of new and existing customers access to a service that combines leading Internet software with the quality service and support that the regional Bell companies have demonstrated they can provide."
Regional Bell Internet Units Positioned As Major Internet Providers
"As major regional Internet service providers, our companies represent one of the newest and fastest growing distribution channels for online access to the Net," said Mark Fisher, general manager and marketing vice president for Pacific Bell Internet Services. "We believe in customer choice, in the importance of the local component of the Internet and in the value of positioning ourselves in a rapidly changing and highly competitive marketplace. Coupled with Netscape's commanding market share, presence and Web site that receives more than 120 million `hits' daily, we're partnering with the company that makes one of the top-selling software products on the market today."
BellSouth, which provides Internet access services in 11 markets and six states in the nation's south, said the Netscape agreement sends a strong signal to the industry that the regional providers are serious about providing high-quality, reliable services. "Our customers expect BellSouth.net to deliver superior quality, reliability and ease of use. We are delivering on those expectations today," said John Robinson, president of BellSouth.net Inc. "Over time, we will help make the Internet as easy to use as the telephone. Our agreement with Netscape helps to accomplish that by making it easier for customers to sign up for our service and make it a part of their everyday lives."
Robinson's comments were echoed by Robert Beran, president of Bell Atlantic Internet Solutions. "Customers want an easy way to select a reliable Internet provider and sign up for service," said Beran. "Netscape ISP Select will be that venue for customers to choose Bell Atlantic as their Internet service provider."
Netscape will also offer Netscape ISP Select users free access to Netscape In-Box Direct, a customized multimedia news service that delivers rich-text messages directly to the inboxes of Netscape mail users. In the two months since its launch, Netscape In-Box Direct has already attracted 1.5 million subscriptions.
More than 40 content providers including Mercury Mail, The New York Times and The Weather Channel are already participating in Netscape In-Box Direct. Netscape In-Box Direct builds on a new class of electronic information services that combine the multimedia capabilities, integrated newsgroups and electronic mail features in Netscape Navigator to enable open, cross-platform, rich-text messaging on the Internet and Intranets. Through Netscape In-Box Direct, Netscape Navigator users register their interests and preferences with a broad array of Internet content providers and receive daily Web-based messages directly to their Netscape mail inbox.
Ameritech, which plans to launch its Internet access service soon, said consumer needs drove its decision to support and select Netscape Navigator and ISP Select. "Consumers want their Internet experience to be easy, reliable and fast, and they want to be able to easily choose an ISP," said Greg Buck, director of product development and content for Ameritech Interactive Media Services. "Netscape Navigator and ISP Select will help us meet these customer demands."
Southwestern Bell's top Internet executive said the agreement with Netscape made "good business sense" for the company. "This deal enabled the five companies to work with Netscape to simultaneously improve our cost-effectiveness for key products and services and gain a competitive edge in critical distribution channels, which expands our potential customer base," said Bob Casali, president and chief executive officer of Southwestern Bell Internet Services. "It also represents a commitment by the companies to individually develop and deliver Internet services that respond directly to business and residential customers' needs for market-leading services."
Netscape Communications Corporation is a leading provider of open software for linking people and information over enterprise networks and the Internet. The company offers a full line of clients, servers, development tools and commercial applications to create a complete platform for next-generation, live online applications. Traded on NASDAQ under the symbol "NSCP", Netscape Communications Corporation is based in Mountain View, California.
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Additional information on Netscape Communications Corporation is available on the Internet at http://home.netscape.com, by sending e-mail to info@netscape.com or by calling 415/937-2555 (corporate customers) or 415/937-3777 (individuals).
Netscape, Netscape Communications, Netscape Communications Corporation logo, Netscape Navigator, Netscape ISP Select and Netscape In-Box Direct are trademarks of Netscape Communications Corporation. All other product names are trademarks of their respective companies.
Text of partner backgrounder:
Regional Bell Internet Company Profiles
Ameritech Interactive Media Services: Ameritech Interactive Media Services develops Internet solutions to meet consumer and business needs. Based in Troy, Mich., the company is a subsidiary of Ameritech, which serves millions of customers in 50 states and 40 countries. Ameritech provides a full range of communications services, including local and long distance telephone, cellular, paging, security monitoring, cable TV, electronic commerce, on-line services and more. One of the world's 100 largest companies, Ameritech (www.ameritech.com) has 67,000 employees, 1 million shareowners and $23 billion in assets.
Bell Atlantic Internet Solutions: Bell Atlantic Internet Solutions, Inc. is a new unit of Bell Atlantic, created to develop and deliver a full range of Internet-based services to businesses, government and consumers from Internet access to electronic mail to World Wide Web consulting. Bell Atlantic Corporation (NYSE:BEL) is at the forefront of the new communications, entertainment and information industry. In the mid-Atlantic region the company is the premier provider of local telecommunications and advanced services. Globally, it is one of the largest investors in the high-growth wireless communications marketplace. Bell Atlantic owns a substantial interest in Telecom Corporation of New Zealand and is actively developing high-growth national and international business opportunities in all phases of the industry (www.bellatlantic.net).
BellSouth.net: BellSouth is a $17.9 billion communications services company. It provides telecommunications, wireless communications, directory advertising and publishing, Internet and information services to more than 25 million customers in 17 countries worldwide. BellSouth's Internet and electronic commerce division, BellSouth.net Inc., develops the strategies and services that enable BellSouth affiliates to offer Internet services to their customers. More information is available on the Internet at (www.bellsouth.net).
Pacific Bell Internet Services: Pacific Bell Internet Services is a full-service Internet access provider offering business and residential customers in California fast, affordable and reliable dial-up and dedicated Internet access services. The company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Pacific Bell, is part of the first regional Bell company in the nation to enter the Internet access business and has established itself in less than a year as the fastest growing regional Internet service provider in California and one of the fastest in the nation. PBI offers a broad range of Internet access services that feature simple, affordable options for reaching the estimated 25 to 30 million users on the world's largest and most powerful computer network. For more information about the service, visit the company's Web site at (www.pacbell.net).
Southwestern Bell Internet Services: Southwestern Bell Internet Services (SBIS) is a wholly owned subsidiary of SBC Communications Inc. SBIS provides a full range of Internet-related services through its Southwestern Bell Internet Service (SM), including dial-up Internet access for residential and business customers, e-mail services, local news and information, content filtering and search capabilities. The service can be ordered by phone (1-888-SWB-INET) or online (www.swbell.net).
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Contact: Jennifer O'Mahony, Netscape
(415) 937-3084
jom@netscape.comLawrence Plumb, Bell Atlantic
(703) 708-4360
lawrence.d.plumb@bell-atl.comDave Miller, Pacific Bell
(916) 972-2811
dnmille@legal.pactel.comDave Onak, Ameritech
(312) 526-8223
daveonak@ameritech.comTed Creech, BellSouth
(404) 330-0550
tcreech@bellsouth.netAndy Craig, Southwestern Bell
(314) 982-1785
craiga@fleishman.com
© Copyright 1997 Pacific Bell Internet Services