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Exhibit 99.1
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NEWS RELEASE
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[NEXTEL LOGO]
NEXTEL COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
2001 Edmund Halley Drive
Reston, VA 20191
MEDIA: BEN BANTA (703) 433-4700
INVESTORS: PAUL BLALOCK (703) 433-4300
NEXTEL INTRODUCES NEXTEL ONLINE(SM):
WIRELESS INTERNET SERVICE FOR BUSINESS
NEXTEL ONLINE FEATURES ALWAYS-CONNECTED INTERNET ACCESS; A FOUR-IN-ONE WIRELESS
COMMUNICATIONS TOOL; AND A SUITE OF WIRELESS APPLICATIONS DEVELOPED JUST FOR
BUSINESS
RESTON, Va., April 25, 2000 -- Nextel Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: NXTL) today
announced that it will begin rolling out Nextel Online(sm) wireless Internet
services in 43 major markets including more than 750 cities across the country.
Nextel Online service is scheduled to become available in all Nextel markets by
mid-year.
"With the arrival of Nextel Online, business customers can now easily receive
and act on the critical information they need to do business while they are away
from the office," said Tim Donahue, president and CEO, Nextel Communications,
Inc. "Nextel Online is a result of our company's commitment to help our mobile
business customers be more productive in a world that values speed."
With Nextel Online, Nextel now offers a wireless phone that serves as a
four-in-one wireless business communication tool. Nextel's Internet-capable
"plus" series phones, manufactured by Motorola, integrate wireless Internet
service, Nextel Direct Connect(R) digital two-way radio service, digital
cellular service, and text/numeric paging into one phone. Today, approximately 2
million Nextel customers own "plus" series phones.
Nextel Online service rate plans feature simple, flat-rate pricing and include
unlimited access to MSN Mobile and Nextel alliance web sites. Plans begin at
$14.95 per month in addition to a customer's existing Nextel rate plan.
Using Phone.com(TM)'s UP.Link(TM) Server and UP.Browser(TM) microbrowser,
Nextel, in a partnership with Cisco for mobile Internet Protocol (IP) networking
has delivered the wireless industry's only integrated, packetized voice and data
service. Unlike other wireless data services where you have to "dial in" to
access the Internet, Nextel Online customers have immediate access to the most
reliable wireless data network in the country allowing instant connectivity to
the Internet so they are never far away from their messages, business
information and wireless-enabled applications.
NEXTEL ONLINE INCLUDES UNLIMITED ACCESS TO ONLINE CONTENT AND COMMERCE
Nextel Online customers can create their own personalized web portal accessible
by a personal computer or Internet-capable Nextel phone using the myNextel.com
web portal. Co-branded with MSN, this web portal features business news and
information from MSNBC and provides access to MSN services such as MSN
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Hotmail, MSN MoneyCentral, Expedia.com, and MSN Yellow Pages business directory
and Hotmail. Users can customize the site so that business information that is
important to them is sent directly to their phone anytime, anywhere on the
Nextel National Network.
Amazon Anywhere allows Nextel customers to conveniently shop and open new
accounts at Amazon.com, the leading on-line retailer, via their Nextel
Internet-capable phone. Customers can make purchases using Amazon's easy and
secure 1-Click(sm) shopping feature available at Amazon.com, including books,
videos, software, tools, hardware and more. Customers can also check the status
of pending orders and search by keyword to view product information including
details, reviews, price, shipping and customer comments.
NEXTEL ONLINE OFFERS ONLINE PRODUCTIVITY SOLUTIONS
List Manager is the first of many planned productivity solutions, and will allow
customers to manage their Nextel phone lists and Nextel Direct Connect private
ID and group lists from their desktop PC or from their Internet-capable Nextel
phone. List Manager synchronizes information over the air and allows an
administrator to manage multiple phone lists at once.
NEXTEL ONLINE FEATURES WIRELESS BUSINESS APPLICATIONS AND CONNECTIVITY SOLUTIONS
Nextel Online features wireless business applications developed to increase
productivity and customer satisfaction by moving data instantly between mobile
workers and their headquarters. Wireless business and mobile connectivity
applications available in the initial launch phase through Nextel Online will
include:
- - eDispatch, a web-based productivity tool for the transportation,
construction and field service industries that allows dispatchers to
receive job status and job completion information in near real-time from
the field, enabling field workers to receive, acknowledge and close out
work orders from the road. Service rate plans for eDispatch begin at
$39.95 per month per unit.
- - IBM Mobile Connect, a component of IBM's Websphere Everyplace Suite, will
allow mobile professionals to access e-mail, calendar, contacts and tasks
using a Nextel Internet-capable phone as a wireless modem when connected
to their personal digital assistant (PDA). Corporate customers can
establish dial-up access accounts for $9.95 per month using minutes of
airtime from their rate plan.
The Nextel Developers Program currently consists of more than 200 organizations
that have registered and qualified to develop wireless applications for vertical
markets such as professional medical services and the building and construction
industry. Nextel plans to announce additional wireless applications in the
coming months that it expects will become available from participants in this
program.
"Extending the Internet into the wireless environment is a logical step for
businesses around the world," said Iain Gillott, vice president of Worldwide
Consumer & Small Business Telecom at IDC. "Obvious applications such as e-mail
and calendaring will be quickly supplemented with wireless commerce, location
services, and vertical applications."
Additionally, through Nextel's web site, http://www.nextel.com, customers can:
get valuable information about Nextel's services, including current rate plans,
promotions, user guides, and interactive product demos; administer their
accounts, including the ability to view and pay their Nextel bill online, sign
up for Nextel service, purchase new phones and accessories; and manage their
mobile services such as set alerts, filter mail and manage online community
information.
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"Nextel Online extends the power of the desktop and the web to today's mobile
worker," added Donahue. "With this service, our customers now have access to a
suite of business applications developed to help them transact business no
matter where they are on the Nextel National Network."
All Nextel Online customers will be supported by Nextel Online customer service
staff members that have been specially trained to field data related customer
service calls.
Nextel Online service will be rolled out initially in 43 major markets and more
than 750 cities across the country including: Atlanta, Chicago, Denver,
Greensboro N.C., Houston, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, San
Francisco, Seattle and Washington/Baltimore. Next week, service also will be
rolled out in the Boston and Providence metropolitan areas.
Nextel Communications Inc., headquartered in Reston, Va. is a leading provider
of fully integrated wireless communications and has built the largest guaranteed
all-digital wireless network in the United States that covers thousands of
communities across the United States. Nextel and Nextel Partners Inc. currently
serve 96 of the top 100 U.S. markets. The Nextel National Network offers a fully
integrated wireless communications tool with digital cellular, text/numeric
paging and Nextel Direct Connect(R) - a digital two-way radio feature. In
addition, through Nextel International Inc., Nextel has wireless operations and
investments in Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, the Philippines, Peru, Japan
and Shanghai, China. Please visit our web page at http://www.nextel.com.
"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995: A number of the matters and subject areas discussed in this press release
that are not historical or current facts deal with potential future
circumstances and developments. The mobile computing services, wireless Internet
access and related new products discussed above are all new offerings that are
planned for commercial introduction in the near future. As such, they remain
subject to risks and delays of product and services offerings in their early
commercial introduction stages, such as those involving the integration of new
and existing product and service offerings, the effectiveness of marketing and
other programs designed to familiarize customers and potential customers with
the newly introduced features and functionality and the efficiency of related
customer service and other backroom support services for the new offerings. Such
new product and service offerings, when commercially introduced, also may be
subject to coverage and capacity limitations in certain geographic areas and the
Nextel National Network. The discussion of such matters and subject areas is
qualified by the inherent risks and uncertainties surrounding future
expectations concerning Nextel's digital mobile network business generally.
Customer acceptance and/or commercial viability of such new product and service
offerings will be dependent on a variety of factors, including the development
and availability of related products and applications that meet customer needs
and preferences, the quality and reliability of the applicable services and
products, and Nextel's ability to deploy these new product and service offerings
either to reduce its own costs or to price such offerings to be a source of
incremental revenue. Nextel has attempted to identify, in context, certain of
the factors that it currently believes may cause actual future experience and
results in its digital mobile network business (including, when commercially
introduced, the new product and service offerings discussed above) to differ
from Nextel's current expectations regarding such relevant matters or subject
areas, and such risks and uncertainties are described from time to time in
Nextel's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including
Nextel's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 1999.
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Nextel, the Nextel logo, Nextel Online and Nextel Direct Connect are trademarks
and/or service marks of Nextel Communications, Inc.
Motorola, i1000plus, i700plus, i500plus are registered trademarks of Motorola,
Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective company.