AT&T AND FOUR MAJOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANIES TO GIVE BUSINESSES GLOBAL ACCESS TO MULTIMEDIA SERVICES; Leading technology providers Lotus and Novell participate.

GENEVA, Switzerland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 2, 1995--With nearly two years of experience in developing multimedia services on its own network, AT&T today announced at Telecom `95 that it is responding to business customers' needs by joining the world's leading telecommunications services companies to provide global interoperable multimedia services.

In addition to AT&T, this effort involves leading telecommunications services providers Deutsche Telekom, NTT, Telstra and Unisource, as well as technology providers Lotus, Novell and, in a dual role, AT&T.

The announcement is the logical progression of AT&T's 1994 introduction in the United States of three popular multimedia service platforms based on Novell's NetWare, Lotus' Notes, and AT&T's own videoconferencing. Since then, AT&T has developed these software platforms into network- based multimedia services for business customers.

AT&T Network Notes, which became commercially available in August, provides extended collaboration and communications capabilities to customers within and beyond their businesses. AT&T NetWare Connect Services link local area networks while providing robust directory services, network security and access to the Internet. It is now in market trial and will be available by the end of 1995. Finally, AT&T WorldWorx Solutions, which provides desktop video conferencing, including video application and document collaboration, is commercially available.

Deployed globally, multimedia services will enable customers worldwide to better manage and integrate complex, geographically dispersed enterprises, strengthen their customer/supplier value chains, and expand into new markets. Applications hosted on the networks will allow companies to securely conduct business transactions and communicate using a variety of multimedia services, and reduce complexity on customer premises and customer end-point devices.

Global deployment of interoperable multimedia services requires more resources than any one company can muster. Accordingly, AT&T will license appropriate elements of these services to telecommunications companies around the world so that they can in turn offer their own services to their customers.

For such services to work across different networks, however, the telecommunications companies providing them must adopt a common service definition that enables customers of one telecommunications company to communicate with customers of other companies. Today, customers face formidable communications obstacles due to differences in protocols and platform standards between networks around the world.

To overcome these barriers, the seven telecommunications and technology providers have agreed to create the Multimedia Services Affiliate Forum, an open forum that will be dedicated to the adoption and development of interoperable multimedia services. The Multimedia Services Affiliate Forum will promote and maintain open standards for a common service definition, network security and operations, and integrated customer support systems.

Adoption of these standards by all Forum members will provide business customers with assurance that they can globally support their business processes with these interoperable multimedia services.

The participating companies emphasized that they are actively recruiting additional telecommunications companies, technology providers and other interested parties for the Forum.

"The implications of widespread interoperability are profound for the future competitiveness of companies and entire economies," said John Petrillo, president of AT&T Business Communications Services. "As strategic technologies such as AT&T Network Notes, AT&T NetWare Connect Services and AT&T WorldWorx Solutions proliferate globally, the degree to which they interoperate will directly impact the adoption rate of global electronic commerce."

Many barriers to global interoperability are beginning to fall. For example, the lack of available network endpoints is yielding to what computer industry analyst IDC projects with a 20% compounded annual growth rate for networked personal computers worldwide during 1994-1998. Another obstacle, a lack of investment in network infrastructure, also is diminishing. A 1995 IDC study shows a growth rate of 63% worldwide for computer internetworking equipment. Finally, lack of network-hosted interoperative multimedia services is being addressed by the Multimedia Services Affiliate initiative.

At the same time, the number of Lotus Notes seats, estimated to be at 3.5 million by year-end 1995, is doubling each year. AT&T's substantial investment of resources to adapt Lotus Notes to its network has dramatically expanded the opportunities to effectively utilize what has quickly become a leading tool for collaboration.

The seven companies involved in the multimedia services effort and the entire industry forming around the convergence of communications and computing will benefit from widespread availability of interoperable multimedia services. Telecommunications service companies that embrace interoperable multimedia services will be able to apply resources saved through use of a common infrastructure to provide regionalized offerings.

AT&T, in particular, is in an excellent position to assist other telecommunications service companies in the rapid deployment of these multimedia services, thereby reducing time to market and time to profitability.

"When telecommunications companies bring widely available service platforms into their networks, they open the door to a wealth of business solutions," said L. Scott Perry, vice president, AT&T Business Multimedia Services. "AT&T believes the approach we have taken in licensing the service elements of AT&T Network Notes, AT&T NetWare Connect Services, AT&T WorldWorx Solutions and customer care will greatly enhance customers' ability to manage and integrate complex and geographically dispersed operations, while providing new revenue opportunities to service providers."

AT&T brings vast experience in global service and support, wide area networking market leadership, system platform scaleability and advanced online services, including AT&T WorldNet Services for Internet access, AT&T Interchange Online Network, AT&T PersonaLink Services and the ImagiNation Network.

AT&T is a world networking leader, providing communications services and products, as well as network equipment and computer systems, to businesses, consumers, telecommun- ications services providers and government agencies.

Network Notes is a trademark of Lotus Development Corp.,licensed to AT&T. WorldWorx is a service mark of AT&T Corp. NetWare Connect is a trademark of Novell, Inc., used by AT&T under license from Novell, Inc. AT&T NetWare Connect Services is a service offered by AT&T Corp. AT&T Network Notes is a service offered by AT&T Corp. WorldNet is a service mark of AT&T Interchange Online Network is a service mark of AT&T AT&T is a registered trademark of AT&T Corp. Deutsche Telekom is a registered trademark of Deutsche Telekom AG. Lotus is a registered trademark of Lotus Development Corporation, a subsidiary of IBM Corp. Novell and NetWare are registered trademarks of Novell, Inc. NTT is a registered trademark of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation. Telstra is a registered trademark of Telstra Corporation Limited. Unisource is a registered trademark of Unisource N.V.

CONTACT: Mike Miller

AT&T Booth -- Telecom `95

011-41-22-760-1169 (voice)

or

Mary Whelan -- AT&T US

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