Exhibit 99.1
e-NET CHANGES NAME TO ZEROPLUS.COM TO FOCUS ON ADVANTAGES FOR E-COMMERCE
- - EMPHASIS WILL BE ON VOICE-OVER INTERNET SERVICES FOR BUSINESSES AND CONSUMERS
- - NEW TRADING SYMBOL WILL BE ZPLS
GERMANTOWN, MD, -- February 14, 2000 - e-Net, Inc. (Nasdaq: ETEL) - a pioneer in
developing technology that revolutionizes the way consumers and businesses
transmit voice over the over the Internet - today announced that it will change
its name to zeroplus.com, Inc., effective tomorrow. The trading symbol on NASDAQ
will convert from ETEL to ZPLS at the end of trading today. e-Net's wholly owned
subsidiary, formerly known as ZeroPlus.com, Incorporated, will cease to exist as
a separate entity.
The name change is the culmination of strategic corporate re-focus that began in
June 1999 with the introduction of ZeroPlus.com's Internet telephone service.
Going forward, the Company intends to focus all efforts on developing two main
business lines - ZeroPlus.com's consumer-based Internet phone service, and its
ZPCommerce solution providing e-commerce companies with enhanced customer
service capabilities.
In making today's announcement, Robert Veschi, President and CEO of
ZeroPlus.com, stated, "ZeroPlus.com's introduction seven months ago marked a
fundamental change in e-Net's business strategy. The recent infusion of capital
that resulted from the Company's agreement with Broadwing (NYSE: BRW) will make
it possible for ZeroPlus.com to aggressively attack the e-commerce market in
pursuit of first mover status within that niche. The first step in the strategic
use of these funds has brought in Arnold Communications, a world class
advertising firm, to manage the marketing campaign. Market studies and focus
groups conducted by Arnold were not only major factors in changing the Company's
name, but also indicated that there may be significant opportunities in
providing voice-enabled customer relationship management solutions for
e-commerce. We anticipate that Arnold's launch of advertising and brand building
initiatives will be instrumental in developing ZeroPlus.com's business solutions
for the e-commerce market space."
Mr. Veschi said, "We are a new company, with a new corporate culture, a stronger
balance sheet and renewed optimism about the future. We believe that our vision
of revolutionizing Internet phone service is on target based on the following
accomplishments: a strategic investment was made by our network partner
Broadwing, ZeroPlus.com has been adopted as the Internet Telephony service for
leading online communities such as Talk City (Nasdaq: TCTY) and theglobe.com
(Nasdaq: TGLO), and we were awarded Product of the Year by a leading industry
publication. With this name change, we are now 100% focused on providing what we
believe is a valuable array of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services for
business-to-business and business-to-consumer transactions."
ZeroPlus.com was the first to introduce a free PC-to-PC phone service based on a
patent pending Internet phone number plan which enables users to reserve their
permanent Internet phone number by placing a "0" in front of their current home
phone numbers. ZeroPlus.com added additional features, including call
forwarding, call waiting, call transfer, and caller ID to its service, and
offered additional calling options, including PC-to-Phone, Phone-to-PC, and
Phone-to-Phone services.
In January 2000, ZeroPlus.com launched an integral part of its e-commerce
strategy with the introduction of ZPCommerce - a suite of hardware and software
components that will allow companies to "re-humanize" the e-commerce experience.
By speaking to their customers over Internet, it is expected that e-tailers, and
e-businesses of all types, will be able to answer customers' questions in real
time. They will also have the option of answering calls directly off the
Internet to reduce costs, or to route the call an existing inbound telephone
number. In addition, ZeroPlus.com plans to work with leading e-commerce Web
sites, integrators, software developers, and application hosting companies to
provide powerful customer relationship management solutions.
Mr. Veschi went on to say, "We live in a world where technology changes at a
phenomenal rate. Companies that expect to succeed in this era must act swiftly
to meet the needs of a changing marketplace. We believe e-Net's re-birth as
ZeroPlus.com illustrates our ability to make the smart business decisions which
define the difference between success and failure."
"The change to ZeroPlus.com is more than just a new name," continued Mr. Veschi.
"It signifies the next step in our company's evolution as we attack the Internet
telephone arena with renewed vigor. We plan to dramatically step up our focus on
tackling a wide range of e-commerce opportunities that we believe we can capture
with well-planned partnerships, while we continue to aggressively pursue the
enormous opportunity in the consumer sector."
--ABOUT ZEROPLUS.COM--
ZeroPlus.com, Inc. (formerly e-Net, Inc.) provides consumers with their own
permanent Internet telephone number and specialized software that enables them
to place and receive phone calls anytime, anywhere via their
computers--completely free of charge. The revolutionary aspect of this service
is that domestic Internet calls are made by dialing "0" plus a 10-digit number
and international calls by dialing "00" plus the number, very similar to the way
people make calls on a traditional phone network. To begin using this new
service, consumers first register on-line at WWW.ZEROPLUS.COM, select their
permanent Internet phone number and download ZeroPlus.com's free software. With
three simple steps, consumers can place and receive free calls over the
Internet, PC to PC. The new, free instant messaging capabilities expand the
ZeroPlus.com portfolio of services, which also includes call hold, caller ID and
speed dial at no charge. ZeroPlus.com also can deliver free phone calls that
travel "off" the Internet to 800, 888 and 877 numbers across the nation and
around the world.
Certain statements made herein that are not historical are forward-looking
within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation reform Act of 1995. The
words "estimate," "project," "intend," "expect," "believe," and similar
expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These
forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties.
For additional information regarding these and other risks and uncertainties
associated with the Company's business, reference is made to the Company's
reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
# # #
MEDIA CONTACT: INVESTOR RELATIONS:
Scott Warner Doug Poretz
Arnold Communications The Poretz Group
703-288-7359 703-506-1778
SWARNER@ARNOLDCOM.COM Doug@poretz.com