AT&T deploys iMagic's Interactive Public Telephones In JFK; Initial Roll Out Provides Unique Services to the Traveling Public in Terminal 4.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 26, 1999--

Under the public telephone permit involving AT&T and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, iMagic Infomedia Technology has delivered an order for 20 interactive touchscreen public telephone units for use in John F. Kennedy International Airport, Terminal 4. Service commences today.

iMagic, the globally recognized owner and developer of the PowerPhone(TM) interactive multimedia telephone, has granted AT&T the use of the system as part of its public payphone offering in North America. It is being marketed under the name Public Access Link, or PAL, by AT&T. Primarily a public telephone with smart telephony features, PAL at JFK will function as a single point of access for travelers. In addition to local and long distance calling, the units will also offer the e-business service of e-mail sending, with dataport connections for laptop computers available on future versions of the product. The multimedia telephones will also feature in-depth electronic directories of JFK airport facilities, metro transport, and amenities, all via a 12-inch touchscreen interface. Payment for services rendered are made by credit card, smart cards (on future versions) and AT&T calling cards, all through a single card reader slot. The cost for local calls is the same as a traditional AT&T New York payphone. Many informational services are free of charge, while other services are available for varying fees (e-mails are free now for a limited time).

Public telephone service instructions are available in English, Spanish, French, Japanese, and German. Text is instantly changed by a touch of a virtual button. By navigating through the screens, users can access information on airlines, ordering flowers, renting cars, and booking hotel rooms (later releases will actually allow you to perform these services onscreen). There is an onscreen user guide, a feedback connection, and volume control. In addition, the PAL interface will display the day's date and time. Development is already underway for further live web access and Internet searching, to be deployed in the near future.

This is the first such pilot involving interactive public telephones ever conducted at JFK International and the first in North America. The units are being introduced as part of an initial roll out with the intention of providing users with the ability to test the system and give their feedback, so that all parties involved can collect the data and use it to improve and upgrade the product. The future goal is to collectively deliver a comprehensive system in massive quantity that reflects user feedback and satisfies what the consumer has asked for.

"AT&T has always been an industry leader in providing customers with reliable and technologically advanced products and services," said Jim Agliata, AT&T manager - new product development. "iMagic's PAL helps deliver on our promise to make anywhere, anytime, anyway communications services a reality ahead of schedule. The services we can offer customers who use this product can make current payphones obsolete."

Robert J. Kelly, director of the aviation department of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said, "We expect these telephones will greatly assist our international visitors. Technology is moving very quickly and our aim is to provide high-quality services that are able to meet the changing needs of our customers. These phones will be able to provide numerous beneficial services--and do it in a number of languages.

"After we analyze the performance of these phones, AT&T may be bringing them to other terminals at JFK or other Port Authority airports," he added.

"The new PAL telephone system is very much in keeping with our corporate philosophy," said Helen Deknatel, Commercial Director of JFK IAT, Terminal 4. "We are redeveloping our terminal into one of the most technically advanced passenger terminals in the world. Our purpose is to create the preferred international gateway in the United States. The new phones will integrate well in the high tech environment we are creating."

"I am very pleased to make the announcement today regarding the premiere of PAL in the United States. This is another huge step forward in our vision of a global PowerPhone Network," said Dorothy Cheng, chief executive of iMagic. "To provide the traveling public on a worldwide scale with easy access to the information they need, when they need it, is our goal."

About 335 units have been in successful operation as the exclusive public telephone offering in the world's largest passenger terminal - Hong Kong International - since it opened in July 1998. Elsewhere in Hong Kong, about 1000 units are installed throughout the region, including the Kowloon-Canton Railway stations, where the phones are also the exclusive payphone offering, and the Mass Transit Railway system. Known outside of the US as the PowerPhone(TM) payphone, it is the world's first and largest commercially deployed multimedia payphone system. Developed to meet the needs of an increasingly sophisticated public, the next-generation telephone was launched in 1996 by iMagic's Hong Kong client, New World Telephone (NWT). Since adopting iMagic's telephone as the cornerstone of its public communications strategy, NWT has consistently won all major, highly competitive payphone tenders in Hong Kong.