Aether Enters Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment Market; Partnership with CyberBills Breaks New Ground for Wireless Electronic Bill Management.

Business Editors

OWINGS MILLS, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 28, 2000

Aether Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: AETH), the leading provider of wireless data services and systems, today announced that it has launched a new Electronic Payments Division to focus on developing solutions that allow consumers and businesses to make or receive electronic payments via the handheld devices they carry today. As Aether's first entry into this market, the company has signed a Letter of Intent with CyberBills to develop a wireless electronic bill presentment and payment service for CyberBills' consumer distribution network.

Aether has also named wireless and financial industry veteran Rod Stambaugh, the founder and former president of U.S. Wireless Data, to head its new Electronic Payments Division as general manager.

Aether's new Electronic Payments Division will concentrate on building partnerships and developing applications on both the payment side, including extending online payment solutions wirelessly, as well as on the receivables side, including enabling businesses with a mobile component to accept electronic payments wirelessly. In the future, Aether will also seek to integrate its current stock trading applications with the new electronic payment capabilities, so that mobile individuals can easily shift funds between various accounts, such as moving funds from a stock account to a bank account.

&uot;The Electronic Payments Division is a logical extension of our current business, given the synergies between Aether's existing leading financial wireless applications and the electronic payments market,&uot; said Aether President and Chief Executive Officer David Oros. &uot;With his extensive knowledge of wireless packet data networks, the Internet, communications protocols and the electronic card processing industry, Rod is the perfect individual to lead this new initiative, and we're excited to have him on the Aether team.&uot;

Aether's first Electronic Payments Division partner is CyberBills, the pioneer of Total Bill Management(TM), offering consumers a single interface that allows them to view, pay, manage and automate all of their bills via the Internet. Under the Letter of Intent, Aether will use its leading Aether Intelligent Messaging (AIM) technology to extend CyberBills' Total Bill Management service to a variety of wireless devices, including Palm organizers, two-way pagers and cell phones.

Using Aether's technology, CyberBills' customers will be able to review and pay their bills from virtually anywhere they roam. Aether's network operations and customer support center will support the new service, providing CyberBills with a turnkey wireless data solution.

&uot;At CyberBills we are always looking for new ways to deliver our compelling bill management service to large consumer markets -- and wireless connectivity is an obvious extension for us,&uot; said CyberBills CEO and co-founder, John Simpson. &uot;By installing Aether's leading technology to enable electronic bill payment wirelessly, our customers can further increase their productivity by paying bills anytime they choose -- even if they're not traveling with their laptops.&uot;

About CyberBills

CyberBills, based in Santa Clara, Calif., is the first company to offer Total Bill Management(TM) service over the Internet. CyberBills provides consumers and small businesses with a compelling and convenient way to view, pay, manage and automate all of their bills online, whether paper or electronic. Total Bill Management is available through CyberBills' channel partners as a private-label service and is also offered directly to consumers at StatusFactory.com, a consumer lifestyle portal. StatusFactory.com's service is backed by the &uot;StatusFactory Guarantees&uot; program, a comprehensive set of consumer guarantees which include security, accuracy, time-savings, excellent customer service, and cost-savings, among others. CyberBills remains a pioneer in consumer and small business Internet services by continually expanding its vision of consolidating customer' daily tasks online. For more information about CyberBills, visit www.cyberbills.com or www.statusfactory.com.

About Aether Systems

Aether Systems is a leader in the field of wireless data, providing real-time data communications and transactions services that operate over multiple wireless data networks, devices and back-end corporate data systems. Using its engineering expertise, its unique Aether Intelligent Messaging (AIM) software platform and its customer service and network operations center, Aether designs, develops, sells and supports turnkey wireless data systems for business customers. Aether's initial focus has been on developing and supporting wireless data applications for leaders in the financial services industry.

For more information, visit Aether's Web site, www.aethersystems.com.

This press release includes forward-looking statements based on our current expectations and projections about future events. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions about Aether that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the continued development and customer acceptance of the technology, services and products described in the release, the ability to offer it on a cost-effective basis and the continued customer acceptance of products developed by CyberBills. These risks and other risk factors are described in Aether's Form S1/A prospectus under the caption, &uot;Risk Factors&uot; filed pursuant to Rule 424(b) with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Aether undertakes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements contained in this press release.