CTIA Announces Council to Develop Wireless Audience Metrics.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

WASHINGTON, D.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 25, 2000

The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA), in conjunction with the Wireless Data Forum and NetRatings (Nasdaq:NTRT), provider of the Nielsen//NetRatings service, today announced the formation of the Wireless Audience Measurement Council to develop a framework for the consideration of advertising on the wireless Internet.

Advertising revenues have been a significant source of support for the provision of content on the wired Internet, and there has been much speculation about the potential efficacy of advertising on the wireless Internet, especially given the value drivers of personalization, timeliness and locality provided by wireless access.

However, successful advertising on the wireless Internet poses a number of problems for advertisers, their agents, and for wireless customers. Multiple wireless network architectures, multiple wireless operating systems, multiple end-user devices, and even multiple service provider business models complicate rudimentary advertising decisions such as content format. On the consumer side, issues of security, privacy, spamming, and the threat of having to pay airtime charges for unrequested and unwanted advertising makes market development problematic.

With the formation of the Wireless Audience Measurement Council, CTIA, as the voice of the wireless Internet industry, and its affiliated organization the Wireless Data Forum, are taking a proactive position in order to address those and other associated issues.

Working in conjunction with NetRatings, a provider of the Nielsen//NetRatings media research services, BPA International, and Target Wireless, CTIA will convene the first meeting of the WAM Council at Wireless IT, the exposition and trade show it co-sponsors with the Wireless Data Forum, on October 18 at the Santa Clara Convention Center. Invited to participate will be CTIA and WDF member companies, along with other Internet and advertising companies and industry organizations, as well as academic and economic experts in the field.

"The availability of relevant content and value on the wireless Internet depends on adding an advertising revenue component to the current business models," said Thomas E. Wheeler, President & CEO of CTIA in announcing the formation of the WAM Council. "But a number of important questions must be answered before that can be done. The WAM Council will surface those issues and then seek to answer them for the industry, setting the stage for dynamic market growth in the future."

According to Mark Desautels, President & CEO of the Wireless Data Forum, "Better technology creates a better user experience, which increases the acceptance of advertising. The WAM Council will try to define the types of standards that can help improve the user experience. We are pleased to have NetRatings, the pioneer and leader in Internet audience measurement technology be a major contributor to this effort."

Among the first jobs of the WAM Council will be to define a set of metrics that will provide advertisers and their agents with a way of quantifying the wireless Internet experience.

"Metrics are necessary so that buyers and sellers of advertising can responsibly manage the advertising process on the wireless Internet," said Dave Toth, President and CEO of NetRatings. "The WAM Council will play an essential role in developing those metrics."

For information on participating in the first meeting of the WAM Council, please contact Janette Stout, at the Wireless Data Forum, at 202/736-2987, or via e-mail at [e-mail].

About CTIA

CTIA is the international organization that represents all elements of wireless communications -- cellular, personal communications services, enhanced specialized mobile radio, and mobile satellite services -- serving the interests of service providers, manufactures, and others.

About WDF

The Wireless Data Forum is an independent, technology-neutral trade group dedicated to promoting the wireless data industry. WDF's more than 100 member companies include domestic and international wireless operators and equipment providers, applications developers and information technology companies working to advance wireless and mobile data products and services. For further information, visit WDF's Web site: http://www.wirelessdata.org.

About Nielsen//NetRatings

Nielsen//NetRatings, the audience measurement service from Nielsen Media Research and NetRatings, Inc., uses unique technology capable of measuring both Internet use and advertising to provide the most timely, accurate and comprehensive Internet usage data and advertising information in the global marketplace. Nielsen//NetRatings leverages proprietary data-collection technology from NetRatings, Nielsen Media Research's 50 years of expertise in research and audience measurement, and ACNielsen's international leadership in supplying market research information covering more than 100 countries. For more information, please visit www.nielsen-netratings.com.