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SBC COMMUNICATIONS SIGNS AGREEMENT WITH NOKIA TO PROVIDE WAP Infrastructure to Bring Internet-based Services to GSM and TDMA Subscribers DALLAS (July 25, 2000) -- SBC Wireless and Nokia today announced a multi-year agreement that will enable SBC Wireless customers to access the Internet via their wireless phone using Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) service on both GSM and TDMA networks.
The agreement covers the deployment and integration of the Nokia Artuse Messaging Platform and the Nokia MAX platforms, plus a range of Wireless Internet Services, for SBC Wireless network. The platforms and services will allow SBC Wireless to customize and personalize the wireless Internet user experience, and allow its wireless subscribers to easily access information from the Internet or corporate Intranet related services.
The Nokia Artuse Messaging Platform, a WAP gateway, and the Nokia MAX Platforms, a portal services technology, provide SBC Wireless with the ability to customize and brand portal home pages for its wireless Internet service. These home pages will offer links to WAP applications, such as comparison shopping, restaurant and movie guides, stock trading, driving directions, Internet searches, and access to general news information.
Nokia will supply the platforms as part of the agreement to provide enhanced wireless data and voice services for SBC Wireless subscribers. Nokia also will provide a full range of professional services.
WAP AGREEMENT/Add Two
The continued expansion of our network and the delivery of wireless data and Internet services are a key part of our long-term business strategy of providing customers access to the information they want from the Internet when they are mobile, said Stephen Carter, president of SBC Wireless. We intend to offer to our wireless customers easy-to-use, useful applications and innovative services through our mobile Internet product, and WAP services are a key element to delivering this product.
This agreement underscores our commitment to the evolution and development of both SBC Wireless and the emerging Mobile Information Society in this market, said Tim Eckersley, Vice President, Nokia Networks North America. "Our technology and services are focused at enabling SBC to provide unique services, personalized to each and every subscriber in their network, nationwide. The strategy being executed by SBC Wireless is at the heart of our Mobile Internet initiatives."
Combined, Nokias network technology and the Nokia Artuse Messaging Platform and the Nokia MAX platform will provide enhanced wireless data and voice services for SBC Wireless subscribers. According to Eckersley, Nokia can offer what few others in the industry can; a complete end-to-end wireless voice and data network solution, including WAP gateways, mobile terminals, browsers, and tools for WAP-based content creation and delivery.
About SBC Communications Inc.
SBC Communications Inc. (www.sbc.com) is a global communications leader. Through its subsidiaries trusted brands - Southwestern Bell, Ameritech, Pacific Bell, SBC Telecom, Nevada Bell, SNET and Cellular One - and world-class network, SBCs subsidiaries provide local and long-distance phone service, wireless and data communications, paging, high-speed Internet access and messaging, cable and satellite television, security services and telecommunications equipment, as well as directory advertising and publishing. In the United States, the company currently has 61.2 million access lines, 12.2 million wireless customers and is undertaking a national expansion program that will bring SBC service to an additional 30 markets. Internationally, SBC has telecommunications investments in more than 20 countries. With approximately 219,000 employees, SBC is the 13th-largest employer in the U.S., with annual revenues that rank it among the largest Fortune 500 companies.
About Nokia
Nokia is paving the way to the mobile information society with its innovative products and solutions. The company is the leading mobile phone supplier and a leading supplier of mobile, broadband and IP networks, related services as well as multimedia terminals. In 1999, Nokias net sales totaled EUR 19.8 billion (USD 19.9 billion). Headquartered in Finland, Nokia is listed on the New York (NOK), Helsinki, Stockholm, London, Frankfurt and Paris stock exchanges and employs more than 56,000 people.
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