American Century Ventures Makes Strategic Investment in Wireless Technology Innovator ArrayComm.

Business Editors

KANSAS CITY, Mo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 6, 2000

American Century Ventures, the strategic investment group for American Century, today announced an investment in leading wireless technology innovator ArrayComm Inc., of San Jose, Calif.

ArrayComm's IntelliCell adaptive smart antenna technology is the backbone of its latest innovation, i-BURST -- the first truly portable, low-cost, high-speed wireless Internet solution.

"This technology is a last-mile solution that allows carriers to extend the reach of their networks and the content that is provided on those networks. ArrayComm's products allows customers to decide when, where and how they want to interact with the Internet and companies doing business on the Internet," said Harold Bradley, president of American Century Ventures.

i-BURST enables networks to deliver 400 times the performance of today's wireless Internet solutions and 40 times the performance of third-generation systems currently in development. Through its technology, i-BURST can host media-rich consumer and business applications to customers at a fraction of today's costs. In contrast to other Internet access services, i-BURST allows for complete portability and doesn't require any special installation of equipment for the customer - saving time, money and inconvenience.

"The killer applications on the Internet will be wireless, but only when that wireless is broadband, ubiquitous, portable and affordable. i-BURST was optimized, from the beginning, for these crucial attributes. American Century recognizes and supports our enabling technology as it is applied to wireless devices and to the Internet," said Martin Cooper, ArrayComm's CEO and inventor of the modern cellular phone.

American Century Ventures' mission is to make investments only in companies that complement the strategic direction of American Century and whose technology or products American Century can use to improve its business and help its investors.

"The i-BURST technology creates a personal, portable broadband wireless system for mass-market Internet access allowing companies to provide richer and more customized services to their customers," said Jon Zindel, vice president of American Century Ventures.

To date, American Century Ventures has invested more than $50 million in ten portfolio companies. Additional information about American Century Ventures can be found at its Web site, www.americancenturyventures.com.

American Century is a mutual fund, brokerage and investment services company serving nearly two million individual and institutional investors. It was recently selected as one of FORTUNE Magazine's 100 Best Companies to Work for in America. Through its broad selection of more than 70 mutual funds, the Kansas City, Missouri-based company manages more than $115 billion in assets. James E. Stowers Jr. founded the company in 1958 and serves as chairman. His son, James E. Stowers III, is chief executive officer and William M. Lyons is president and chief operating officer. For more information on company products and services, visit its Web site at www.americancentury.com.

Headquartered in San Jose, Calif., and recently named as one of Wireless Week's 25 companies to watch in the new millennium, ArrayComm is the global leader in smart antenna-based wireless communications. The company recently closed on a round of financing led by Sony Corporation of America (NYSE: SNE), to accelerate the development of i-BURST. ArrayComm's IP-based i-BURST system has been designed to fully leverage the success of ArrayComm's patented IntelliCell technology. IntelliCell dramatically enhances the capacity, coverage, and quality of wireless communication systems. It works with all wireless air interfaces. ArrayComm's IntelliCell technology is deployed in tens of thousands of systems serving commercial customers in the Philippines, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, China and Japan. IntelliCell technology is widely deployed in DDI Pocket Telephone's Network, which serves millions of customers in Japan.