REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (July 19, 1999) ¾Bell Atlantic Mobile (NYSE:BEL), Motorola (Nasdaq:MOT) and Phone.com, Inc. (Nasdaq:PHCM) announced today a collaborative effort to deliver Wireless Application Protocol based over-the-air provisioning capabilities for CDMA handsets. This effort combines Internet and telephony open standards to create a system capable of delivering provisioning information as well as electronic customer care to Bell Atlantic Mobile subscribers via CDMA phones. Motorola will provide the initial CDMA phones used by this effort, launching with Phone.com's version 3.1 UP.Browser™ and migrating towards full WAP compliance in 2000. The results of the collaboration will be submitted to the CDMA Developments Group's (CDG) Over The Air Handset Management Subgroup for stage II standardization.
Bell Atlantic Mobile licensed an enhanced version of the Phone.com™ UP.Link™ Server Suite. The UP.Link system enables Bell Atlantic Mobile to gain more control of its costs by dynamically managing which networks its customers "roam" on outside of the company's service territory. With the system, Bell Atlantic Mobile will be able to "steer" customers to a select list of wireless carriers' networks which offer the best service available outside the company's footprint and the most favorable roaming fees. This capability will further improve the economics of Bell Atlantic Mobile's SingleRateŅ digital price plans.
With the over-the-air provisioning system, Bell Atlantic Mobile will be able to provide its subscribers with a new level of customer care by automatically keeping each mobile phone updated with the most recent versions of network information such as roaming lists, area code information, and other data parameters. The UP.Link Server Suite will also provide Bell Atlantic Mobile with the opportunity to deliver electronic customer care. Subscribers will be able to check their bill, and interactively manage their individual account features directly from the interface on their mobile phone.
Bell Atlantic, Motorola and Phone.com are committed to the use of open standards, such as WAP, to achieve a flexible provisioning system that can rapidly adjust to fast-changing technology requirements. As mobile phones gain more functionality, such as Internet microbrowsers, contact management and email, the carrier must manage more complex user profiles. In the future, this provisioning system will be based on open standards and available to all CDMA carriers, handset manufacturers, and software suppliers.
"The WAP based over-the-air provisioning system will allow us to expand our sales channels and provide a new level of customer care," said Richard Lynch, executive vice president and chief technology officer of Bell Atlantic Mobile. "It is our vision to provide our customers with instant activation, updated software, access to Email and the Internet plus e-care services in a manner that is completely automated and personalized for the customer. With the UP.Link Server Suite and Motorola's browser-enabled phones, customers will begin using their wireless handsets as functional tools for accessing banking information, purchasing products or other Internet-based information services."
"Motorola is pleased to play a leading role in bringing a new generation of Internet-capable CDMA solutions to market," said Janiece Webb, senior vice president and general manager of Motorola's Personal Networks Group. "We are able to push the technology further with Internet and over-the-air provisioning capabilities for our CDMA handsets. Motorola is committed to provide WAP compliant browser and server capabilities to the industry and views this solution as an important first step towards that goal."
"Phone.com's products leverage our WAP technology leadership to provide carriers with secure, powerful, and extensible over-the-air provisioning capabilities," said Alain Rossmann, chairman and chief executive officer of Phone.com. "As wireless phones and networks become more feature-rich our products will allow carriers to automatically update the software and settings of these phones without subscriber intervention. We expect that revenue from this activity will impact our company in our FY2001."
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