Launch with BT European multi-language WAP Service
365 Corporation PLC
9 March 2000
365 Corporation plc and BT launch multi-language WAP services in Europe
365 Corporation plc ('365') announces that it has extended its partnership
with British Telecommunications PLC ('BT') to become the provider of WAP
sports content for BT Mobility in Europe.
BT Mobility is a European network of partners and associates providing mobile,
WAP and Internet services. This extends the existing relationship with BT,
following the BT Cellnet Genie Internet agreement announced on 17 February
2000.
Onto this European network, 365 will distribute dedicated content from its
leading sports websites including www.football365.com, www.cricketline.com,
www.planet-rugby.com, www.planet-f1.com, www.racetips.com and
www.sportonair.com.
The partnership will give users of WAP-enabled devices on the BT affiliate
network the opportunity to receive 365 sports news and comment across Europe.
It is envisaged that the service will provide comprehensive, up to the minute
text news, competitions, live scores and statistics, all delivered in the
unique 365 style, 365 days of the year.
Using 365's existing content as its base, the new service will be in English,
French, Spanish, German and Italian.
Commenting on this key announcement as part of 365's multi digital platform
strategy, Dan Thompson, CEO of 365 Corp, said:
'We are delighted to extend our relationship with BT across the key European
markets and to give our customers access throughout Europe to our content
while on the move. This is the latest step in our strategy of leveraging our
proprietorial content across multiple platforms, thereby generating additional
revenue streams, such as subscription, advertising and shared call income,
from a single cost base.'
Enquiries:
365 Corporation plc Tel: 0171 550 7800
Dan Thompson, Chief Executive Officer
Simon Morris, Marketing Director
www.365corp.com
Financial Dynamics Tel: 0171 831 3113
Giles Sanderson
Fiona Meiklejohn
NOTES FOR EDITORS - 365 Corporation plc
CURRENT CONTENT AND SERVICE OFFERINGS
Consumer
- Sport
Football - www.football365.com (English), www.futbol365.com (Spanish),
www.football365.fr (French), www.talkfootball365.com (Football content on a
cross platform basis via TalkFootball365, a telephone and Internet service).
Cricket - www.cricinfo365.com (daily e-mail publication in joint venture with
CricInfo), www.cricketline.com (a leading site for International cricket,
complete scorecards of every Test match ever played).
Rugby - www.rugby365.com (produced in four language versions - English,
French, Spanish, Afrikaans), www.rugbyrugby.com (North American rugby
website), www.planet-rugby.com (a market leading online rugby resource
including breaking news, unique statistics).
Racetips: www.racetips.com (a site dedicated to Horse Racing giving the inside
track on news, form and the horses to follow).
Formula 1: www.planet-f1.com (website featuring news, features and a
searchable archive of every race in F1 history).
Sports Overview: www.sportszine.co.uk (complete guide to sport on the Internet
through a searchable database of over 40,000 individually reviewed websites),
www.sportonair.com (UK's first dedicated sports audio website with hourly
news, features and interviews).
- Entertainment
Music - www.music365.com (reviews of albums and singles, interviews with
artists and personalities and topical stories, on-line chat forum, on-line
shopping facilities for concert tickets, CDs and videos).
Competitions - www.win365.co.uk (a cross-platform competition based product).
Games - www.planet-trivia.com (a network of live, multiplayer trivia games
where users can compete in real time against anyone else in the world on a
variety of topics including television, education, history, entertainment and
sport and win prizes).
365Television - The first production, a documentary on boxer Mike Tyson's UK
fight, was commissioned by the BBC and recently aired on BBC Choice and BBC2.
- Lifestyle
Companionship - www.personals365.com (an on-line companionship product),
www.theswitch.co.uk (a multi-platform product using the web and telephone for
chat).
Advisory services - telephone-based services to users. 365 provides telephone
lines and systems and Infogenie procures the advisory services, currently for
legal services and veterinary services.
365Television - The first production, a documentary on boxer Mike Tyson's UK
fight, was commissioned by the BBC and recently aired on BBC Choice and BBC2.
Business
The Business Division provides communication services and Internet
applications to small and medium sized enterprises in the UK and Ireland. It
aims to provide a 'one stop shop' of communications services and Internet
applications to its customers. 365 currently provides voice and data access,
telephone systems, mobiles, Internet access and related hardware. In order to
work towards national coverage, 365 has formed equity joint ventures with 12
telecom systems dealers across the UK. Under these arrangements, 365
contributes its expertise and access to its customer service and billing
infrastructure, while the dealer contributes local sales and marketing
expertise. The existing customer base of the joint venture partners provides
the initial target for 365's marketing efforts.
BT Cellnet and Genie Internet
365 provides content to BT Cellnet's Genie Internet. BT Cellnet is the Mobile
Internet market leader and currently has over 7 million customers using its
voice services and over 500,000 mobile Internet users. Genie Internet launched
the UK's first fully operational commercially available WAP services and its
Infotouch and Mmail data services - the first mobile Internet services
available to all digital customers based on existing SMS text messaging -
with 86 million SMS messages sent over the BT Cellnet network in January 2000
alone.