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Untitled Document
ENRON COMMUNICATIONS LAUNCHES ePOWERED MEDIA CAST™ AT NAB
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, April 19, 1999
PORTLAND, Ore. - Enron Communications, Inc., a leader in the delivery of high bandwidth business information and applications, announced today it has launched its first application service for the Internet industry: ePowered Media Cast™. ePowered Media Cast delivers streaming video to the desktop at an average bit-rate speed of 200 kbps – 10 times faster than what is currently available on the public Internet.
Taking advantage of the Internet Protocol (IP)-based Enron Intelligent Network™ (EIN) -- an application delivery platform enabled with intelligent messaging software -- ePowered Media Cast provides streaming media to the desktop, delivering a high quality and high speed video and audio experience. ePowered Media Cast, which was unveiled at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) annual conference in Las Vegas, will be commercially available on May 1, 1999.
"Enron Communications is all about improving the experience of the Internet - for the end user, the content distributor, and the content provider," said Joe Hirko, president and CEO of Enron Communications, Inc. "We are not just developing new technologies, we are enabling the development of the innovative applications that will ultimately deliver a bold new ‘infostructure’ for the 21st century, changing the way people conduct business."
Enron Communications is initially targeting ePowered Media Cast for the enterprise desktop and is currently negotiating with business-related multimedia content providers. Vertical industry-related content, such as real estate, gaming, sports, medical and corporate intranets, will follow.
"Network-based applications such as ePowered Media Cast enhance the capability of the Internet,” Hirko said. “Content providers can create 'power user' content and distribute 30 frames per second streams to their customers. Content distributors like ISPs can differentiate their service by offering rich media to their subscribers without having to make large investments in a private network, WAN or servers. End users can then watch live events or view on-demand rich multimedia as they choose. It paves the way for further new world application developments by Enron Communications and other third party developers."
The development of ePowered Media Cast builds on the strategic alliance that Enron Communications announced in January with RealNetworks (Nasdaq: RNWK), the recognized leader in streaming media. As part of this strategic agreement, Enron Communications is deploying RealSystem™ G2 technology over the EIN to deliver broadband streaming media services. A number of Real Broadcast Networks content providers are participating in the demonstration of ePowered Media Cast at NAB including C-SPAN, ZDTV, Bloomberg Financial, CMP Tech, America’s Health Network, NextVenue and Forbes Digital Media.
“We’re pleased that Enron Communications has aggressively developed the capabilities that will enable their high bandwidth backbone to provide the infrastructure on which the next wave of rich media businesses and applications will emerge,” said Len Jordan, senior vice president, Media Systems, RealNetworks, Inc. “The combination of the Enron Intelligent Network and RealSystem G2 will accelerate the adoption of broadband programming in a new generation of broadcast-quality, high bit-rate end-user experiences.”
By design, ePowered application services are delivered to the EIN point of presence (POP) in the customer’s city. Connection management is seamlessly handed off to the service provider who delivers the service to the customer’s desktop. Enron Communications’ ePowered applications will be distributed by a growing list of ePowered channel partners. The first pioneering channel partners include GTE Internetworking, Verio, Epoch Internet, NorthPoint Communications, InterNAP Network Services, EasyStreet Online Services, Electric Lightwave, and TeleCommute Solutions.
The Enron Intelligent Network: The EIN is an application delivery platform enabled with InterAgent®, an intelligent messaging software that enhances Enron Communications' existing pure Internet Protocol (IP) fiber-optic network to create next generation application services. With a distributed server architecture in alliance with Sun Microsystems, the EIN is designed to keep information and application services just one hop away from end-users. The metalink to the EIN is transparent to the user. This allows ePowered Media Cast to dramatically build upon the current capabilities of streaming rich media to the desktop over the Internet, delivering a superior multimedia experience.
Network expansion will continue through December 2000. The EIN currently covers Portland, San Francisco/San Jose, Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas, Chicago, Washington, DC and New York.
About Enron Communications, Inc.: Enron Communications, a wholly owned subsidiary of Enron Corp. (NYSE: ENE), is a leader in the delivery of high-quality, high-bandwidth business information and applications. Enron Communications is building a long-haul fiber-optic network on strategic routes throughout the United States to create a data-centric national Pure IP backbone known as the Enron Intelligent Network. It is extending the capabilities of that network through agreements with ISPs and carriers seeking to generate new revenue sources and improved services.
Enron Corp. is one of the world's leading integrated natural gas and electricity companies. The company, which owns approximately $30 billion in assets, produces electricity and natural gas, develops, constructs and operates energy and water facilities worldwide and delivers physical commodities and risk management and financial services to customers around the world. Enron's Internet address is www.enron.com. the stock is traded under the ticker symbol, "ENE."
Click here to download this press release in Microsoft Word format.
For additional information please contact:
Tracy Smith
(503) 464-7837
tracy_smith@enron.net
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