December 14, 2001
Telesp Celular Participacoes S.A., (NYSE: TCP; BOVESPA: TSPP3 (Ord), TSPP4 (Pref)) ("TCP"), today announced the pioneer launch of a 2.5G wireless data commercial pilot in Brazil through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Telesp Celular S.A., the largest cellular operator in South America, making it the first cellular operator in Latin America to do so.
Initially, the high speed mobile Internet will be available in Sao Paulo City and the Guarulhos region (International Airport) and will be extended to other areas, where traffic is generally high, during the first quarter of 2002. Users can access the services through a notebook, handheld or PDA (personal digital assistant) connected to a standard card, specially made for this technology, which works as a wireless modem, or through the proper 2.5G handset connected to the various devices by a cable.
The handsets will not have an additional cost to the users, vis-a-vis the current 2G handsets, and will range from R$ 399.00 up to R$ 1,399.00. The wireless modem card will be sold at R$ 1,299.00. Six 2.5G handsets models will be available from LG, Ericsson, Samsung and Motorola by January 2002.
With this development, Telesp Celular S.A. can offer Internet services at a data transmission speed 10 times faster than the current one, changing from 14.4 Kbps to 144 Kbps. The concept "always on" will mean that handsets are permanently connected to the Internet and the client will only have to pay for the data volume effectively transmitted (in kilobyte), instead of for the connection time, as is currently the case.
Telesp Celular S.A. made marginal investments totaling R$ 38 million in this new handset generation. Lucent Technologies was responsible for the installation of the technology to allow for data transmission in packages. The information system developments were made by PT Inovacao, by Convergys and by Hewlett-Packard. The partners involved in the IP backbone evolution are Compaq and Cisco.
Following the new strategy of profitable growth and focusing on the high income segment, Telesp Celular S.A. believes this new service will mainly benefit the corporate segment and small and medium companies, which demand tools that make mobile and fast access to their Intranets possible. Additionally, the creation of a "business web" to link collaborators, suppliers and employees will be supported by the wireless technology.
Telesp Celular S.A. will launch two kinds of services based on this technology: WAAAP TURBO and ZAAAP.
WAAAP TURBO - is the evolution of the current "WAAAP" service already available to the handsets of the current generation, but adding benefits such as the possibility of always being connected, payment only by the volume of data transmitted and not for the connection period; and fastness. To use WAAAP Turbo the clients will need 2.5G handsets.
Following the new charging concept by the quantity of data consumed in kilobyte (KB), two plans were created:
- The Avulso plan, aimed at the occasional user with a 2.5G
handset, will charge R$ 0.02 for each KB (kilobyte) transmitted and consequently the client will be able to access the services available in the WAAAP Turbo Portal every day without being charged a monthly fee.
- The WAAAP Turbo package, aimed at frequent users, offers 2 MB (megabytes) or 2,048 Kbps for a R$ 19.90 monthly fee. With this plan, each KB consumed will cost less than R$ 0.01, translating to a discount of more than 50% over the Avulso plan.
Also available will be "Premium" tools, which will be billed according to a special tariff, (irrespective of the data volume transmitted by each access) or according to a monthly fee for unlimited access.
Following are some examples of the service utilization and its costs:
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Service KB per Cost utilization (in Brazilian centavos)
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Read an e-mail 3.5 7
Check flight schedules 8 16
Find a bar or a restaurant 10 20
Consult the horoscope 14 28
Read daily news 4.5 9
View the weather forecast 8 16
See the movie schedule 11 22
See a soccer game result 4.5 9
Read a novel's summary 4 8
Reset a ringtone(a) 12 24
See the exchange ratio 4 8
Access checking account information 7 14
Invest money in an investment fund 13.5 27
Find the best route 10 20
Send a "Torpedo" message with an image 10.5 21 79 158
Chat for 10 minutes (R$ 1.58)
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(a) currently available only on Nokia 3280 handsets
ZAAAP - is a service that allows wireless access to the Internet, in the coverage/service area. Clients will be able to surf the web with no connection to a fixed line, but only a wireless modem card (PCMCIA card) enabled for the service or a cable connected to a 2.5G handset.
To access the ZAAAP service, the user will need an access provider (ISP). Initially, this service will be offered, purely for technical reasons, only by Telesp Celular S.A., for a R$ 14.90 monthly fee. Later, the user will be able to choose another ISP, compatible with ZAAAP, to access the Internet.
In this first phase, the user will pay a R$ 85 monthly fee to use 50MB and R$ 1.50 for each additional megabyte.
Following are some examples of the service utilization and its costs:
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Examples of Utilization Average size Hypothetical Average of the files Average Monthly Usage Consumption
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To send or receive 5 to 10 KB 20 e-mails 4.4 MB e-mails (text) per day
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Surf 10 minutes(1) 50 to 100 KB 30 minutes 18.8 MB per page per week
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Use 10 minutes the 20 KB per minute 10 minutes 5.9 MB "Instant Messenger"(2) per day
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Music download (in a 3 to 5 MB per song 1 song per week 17.1 MB MP3 format)
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Movies download (in a 0.6 MB per minute 2 minutes per week 5.1 MB MPEG4 format)
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(1) Corresponding to approximately 20 pages.
(2) Corresponding to approximately 30 messages received or sent.
ZAAAP VPN - is aimed exclusively at companies and is different in that it offers a connection with the company private network (VPN). In this way, plan participants can access their corporate network from anywhere, without having to contract with a specific ISP.
The price of the ZAAAP VPN service will be R$ 120 per user/month for 50MB/month, and R$ 1.90 per additional MB.
This information is also available at http://www.telespcelular.com.br
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