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Britannica.com
Brings Volumes to the Sprint PCS Wireless Web
Encyclopaedia
Britannica, Local Information Now Available
CHICAGO and KANSAS
CITY, Sept. 26, 2000 - Britannica.com Inc., developer of leading
consumer and educational Web sites, and Sprint PCS, the nation's
fastest-growing wireless provider, today announced an agreement
that puts volumes of high-quality information on the Web-enabled
wireless phones of Sprint PCS customers.
The agreement gives
Sprint PCS Wireless Web users access to the 32-volume Encyclopædia
Britannica, along with valuable local information, through a new
application called Britannica Wireless. The application allows
Sprint PCS subscribers to search the 44-million-word Britannica
database and download individual articles to the display screens
of their mobile phones. By entering specific ZIP codes, subscribers
can also get valuable information about their local areas or any
other area in the United States.
Weighing in at a
formidable 450,000 wireless "decks," to use the industry parlance,
and containing 43,000 inter-deck cross references, Britannica
Wireless is one of the largest applications of "authored" content
available for wireless phones. It is one of the first major products
to provide general, in-depth, branded information for wireless
delivery. In a field dominated until now by aggregated database
feeds such as weather, sports scores and stock quotations, the
new Britannica application suggests that the business is now poised
to move beyond its traditional base of wireless business users
to serve students, teachers, distance learners and knowledge seekers
in general.
"Sprint PCS is committed
to expanding the Sprint PCS Wireless Web through the addition
of valuable services for our customers," said Chip Novick, vice
president of Consumer Marketing Strategic Business Unit, Sprint
PCS. "This relationship with Britannica.com will give wireless
access nationwide to one of the most respected sources of knowledge
and information in the world."
"Now, wherever you
take your mobile phone, Britannica is there," said Don Yannias,
chief executive officer of Britannica.com Inc. "You can learn,
satisfy your curiosity and answer questions wherever they come
up -- at the theater, at sporting events, in a restaurant or while
you're traveling."
Although the encyclopedia
represents Britannica.com's first application for mobile phones,
Yannias emphasized that other wireless products are planned.
"Today, Britannica
is much more than an encyclopedia, and our wireless offerings
will reflect that, just as our Web strategy does," he said. "We
are creating lively, smart, topical features every day, many of
them the kind that we believe wireless users will find valuable."
Britannica Wireless
is available to users of more than 15 models of Sprint PCS Internet-ready
wireless phones. Wireless information transmission promises to
grow dramatically in the next few years, some experts predicting
that wireless access to the Internet will surpass Internet usage
from desktop computers in a few years. Sprint PCS launched its
Sprint PCS Wireless Web service in 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 shop,
trade stocks online, browse select Internet-based content in real
time, receive personalized news features, weather, stock quotes
and e-mail updates, and connect to the Internet or a corporate
intranet by connecting their laptop computer to their Sprint PCS
Phone with a Wireless Web Connection Kit. The Sprint PCS Wireless
Web is available anytime, anywhere on the Sprint PCS all-digital,
all-PCS (personal communication services) 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 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 one of the largest
carriers 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 Britannica.com
Inc.
Britannica.com Inc. produces Britannica.com,
a powerful free Web site featuring some of the highest quality
content on the Internet; BritannicaSchool.com,
a subscription online learning and research product for students,
educators and parents that the company plans to launch this fall;
Britannica Online, a subscription-based,
advertising-free reference and research service; and the award-winning
multimedia Britannica CD-ROMs and DVDs. Britannica.com's products
give users timely and reliable information along an impressive
range of topics through original content and features developed
by the company's editorial and educational teams, content from
the world's most respected encyclopedia and leading reference
sources, articles from scores of top magazines and newspapers,
and Web sites selected for their quality. Headquartered in Chicago,
the company also operates offices in California, New York, the
United Kingdom, Australia and India.
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