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ENRON EXTENDS GLOBAL REACH, DRIVES BROADBAND
BUSINESS WITH BRITISH TELECOM AGREEMENT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, September 13, 2000
HOUSTON -- Enron Broadband Services UK Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Enron Corp. (NYSE: ENE), today announced a three-year agreement with British Telecommunications PLC (BT) to enable subscribers of BTopenworld, BT’s new high growth international Internet business, to access the Enron Intelligent Network™. Enron will deliver broadband content and applications services to BTopenworld’s ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber line) and narrowband subscribers, currently 1.4 million customers, by connecting to BTopenworld’s broadband network.
“Enron’s agreement with BTopenworld extends the reach of our network to a significant international market,” said Steven Elliott, president of Enron Broadband Services UK. “A relationship with BT is central to our mission to bring a premium, high-bandwidth experience to broadband users in Europe and around the globe.”
Through the recently launched BTopenworld service, BT provides broadband Internet access using ADSL technology, enabling customers to receive broadband data at high speeds. BT’s ADSL network exceeds 500 exchanges covering around 35% of the UK population. By mid-2001, BT projects 50% of UK households and businesses, and more than half of the UK’s current Internet users, will be within its exchange coverage.
“Enron’s network capabilities fit strategically with our plans to accelerate the UK market demand for broadband,” said Marc Deschamps, head of UK broadband, BTopenworld. “This arrangement not only enhances the quality of our service by providing a high-quality, content-rich Internet experience, it also leaves the door open for future opportunities to deliver valuable broadband solutions to our customers.”
The Enron Intelligent Network is designed to allow the scalability necessary to deliver high-bandwidth content to a large population of simultaneous users. Enron’s global broadband network bypasses the congestion of the public Internet to provide a superior quality of service. Enron’s network platform includes a distributed server architecture, software intelligence, and network monitoring and control.
About Enron Broadband Services
Enron Broadband Services, a leading provider of high quality, high bandwidth delivery and application services, recently introduced its products and services in Europe, with an initial presence in major markets in the UK, Germany, France and the Netherlands.
The company’s business model combines the power of the Enron Intelligent Network, Enron’s Broadband Operating System, bandwidth trading and intermediation services, and high-bandwidth applications to fundamentally improve the experience and functionality of the Internet. Enron’s Broadband Operating System allows application developers to dynamically provision bandwidth on demand for the quality of service necessary to deliver broadband content. Enron is also creating a market for bandwidth that will allow network providers to scale to meet the demands required by increasingly complex applications. Enron Broadband Services can be found on the Web at www.enron.net.
About Enron
Enron’s European activities began in 1989 and are headquartered in London. Today the company employs more than 3000 people across Europe with principal offices in Frankfurt, London, Oslo, Moscow and Madrid. Enron is a leading participant in the liberalised UK and Nordic energy markets and is the leading new entrant in the rapidly liberalising continental European markets. Natural gas and electricity marketing businesses are supported by power stations developed, owned and/or operated by Enron in Italy, Poland, Turkey and the UK, including the world’s largest privately-owned CCGT combined heat and power plant, the 1875 MW Teesside station in the UK.
Enron is one of the world’s leading electricity, natural gas and communications companies. The company, with revenues of $40 billion in 1999 and $30 billion for the first six months of 2000, produces electricity and natural gas, develops, constructs and operates energy facilities worldwide, delivers physical commodities and financial and risk management services to customers around the world, and is developing an intelligent network platform to facilitate online business. Fortune magazine has named Enron “America’s Most Innovative Company” for five consecutive years, the top company for “Quality of Management” and the second best company for “Employee Talent.” In addition, Enron ranks in the top quarter of Fortune's "Best 100 Companies to Work For in America.” Enron’s Internet address is www.enron.com. The stock is traded under the ticker symbol “ENE.”
About Btopenworld
BTopenworld is BT’s new international mass market Internet business which is focused increasingly on broadband and mobile services. It brings together in a single business BT’s existing mass-market UK and international Internet service providers (ISPs), portals and Open, BT’s digital interactive television joint venture. The business is also responsible for Genie, Europe’s leading mobile portal and service provider. BTopenworld is responsible for the building of platforms, aggregation of content and the marketing of its services. BTopenworld is one of the largest ISPs in Europe and has joint venture businesses which include: LineOne; Open; Excite UK; Yu.com (Belgium); Arrakis (Spain); Infinito (Italy); Mantra Online (India); BT Looksmart; Anglia Campus.
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Click here to download this press release in Microsoft Word format.
For additional information please contact:
Shelly Mansfield
Enron Broadband Services
(713) 853-4589
44 (0) 207 783 6501
Richard Leonard
Le Fevre Communications
44 (0) 1865 202 666
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