BellSouth Wireless Data Delivers Technology Innovation to Palm VII Users Allowing Service Activation From Device.

WOODBRIDGE, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 24, 1999--

Groundbreaking Wireless Subscription Management Feature Helps Make

Palm VII First Completely Out-of-Box Wireless Data Solution

When the Palm VII(TM) connected organizer becomes available at retailers throughout the New York metropolitan tri-state area today, it will contain a groundbreaking technology enhancement from BellSouth Wireless Data - Wireless Subscription Management - that allows users to select service options and activate their device all from the palm of their hands.

With Wireless Subscription Management, consumers now have a fully automated process that allows them to activate their Palm VII connected organizer on the BellSouth Intelligent Wireless Network(SM) literally as soon as they complete their purchase. Users simply raise the device's antenna, select the level of service they desire through Palm Computing's(R) Palm.Net(TM) wireless "web clipping" service, enter billing and credit card or purchase order information, and in 60 seconds or less they are ready for interactive, wireless data communications.

"Wireless Subscription Management is an innovation that will help bring the wireless data experience to broad consumer markets," said William F. Lenahan, president and CEO of BellSouth Wireless Data. "With Wireless Subscription Management, Palm VII customers are the first wireless users to have a completely out-of-the-box product where even the activation and service selection process is done within a minute entirely by the consumer. This is a key to making wireless data successful in the personal marketplace."

In the future, Wireless Subscription Management will be available on a variety of other wireless handheld devices enabled for the BellSouth Intelligent Wireless Network, including PDAs, handheld PCs and pagers.

Wireless Subscription Management brings many other benefits to the marketplace. For service providers, it delivers remote sessionless activation/deactivation abilities, on-line account management and help-desk services. For device manufacturers it aids the manufacturing process by dynamically providing identification numbers, called Mobitex Access Numbers (MANs), which releases the manufacturer from the responsibility of having to program a MAN into each device modem. This results in lower cost.

Wireless Subscription Management is just one feature that BellSouth Wireless Data brings to the new Palm VII connected organizer. The Palm VII operates only over the BellSouth Intelligent Wireless Network, giving customers seamless nationwide coverage, a high degree of reliability and the ability to have information and messages delivered to them in seconds rather than minutes.

"With the BellSouth Intelligent Wireless Network, we are able to deliver the broad coverage and robust, innovative wireless data technology we required to make the Palm VII product a success," said Joe Sipher, director of wireless products for Palm Computing, a 3Com company. "The ability to offer Palm VII customers Wireless Subscription Management through our new Palm.Net service helps make our product a truly revolutionary offering."

The new Palm VII organizer uses the new Palm.Net wireless service and the BellSouth Intelligent Wireless Network to enable users to easily obtain information from the Internet, conduct e-commerce transactions and send and receive messages. While being initially offered regionally in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, the Palm VII is expected to be available for purchase nationally later this year.

About BellSouth Wireless Data

BellSouth Wireless Data, L.P., headquartered in Woodbridge, N.J., is an expert in providing proven wireless data communications solutions that eliminate the barriers between critical information and mobile users. The company, a winner of the prestigious Sears Innovation Source of the Year and Partners in Progress awards, delivers a competitive advantage and increases personal productivity for aggressive, innovative companies and individuals leveraging communications technologies to meet their strategic goals. BellSouth Wireless Data operates its wireless data service throughout the United States, covering more than 93 percent of the urban business population located in 492 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) and non-MSAs with a total population of 200 million people.

BellSouth Wireless Data is a subsidiary of BellSouth Corporation. BellSouth Corporation provides telecommunications, wireless communications, cable and digital TV, directory advertising and publishing, and Internet and data services to nearly 34 million customers in 19 countries worldwide. E-mail: [e-mail]. Web site address: www.bellsouthwd.com.