Mpower Communications Launches Data Strategy with New Internet Service Delivery Hub
Aligns with Web-based Business Service Providers BizBuyer.com and inc.com to Transform Site into a Valuable Business Resource Destination
Rochester, NY -- April 12, 2000 -- Mpower Communications Corp. (Nasdaq:MPWR), a leading provider of broadband data, Internet and telephony services to business customers, today announced its first steps in creating the platform that will become the foundation of the company's data services strategy. Mpower's new Web portal [www.mpowercom.com] is the catalyst that will quickly evolve the company's Internet presence from strictly an information reserve into a critical business services marketplace. Accelerating this transformation is two new alliances announced today between Mpower and Web-based business service providers BizBuyer.com and inc.com.
"Launching a comprehensive data services strategy is critical to our long-term success. Our new Internet hub represents a significant step in our goal of delivering the true power of the Internet to growing enterprises," said Rolla P. Huff, President and CEO of Mpower Communications. "By providing applications under the Mpower brand and offering them through our hub, we quickly become an Internet enabler of content and commerce and a more valuable business partner for our customers. Partnerships with companies such as BizBuyer.com and inc.com will be cornerstones of our transaction-based, 24x7 online storefront where our customers will come to do business."
BizBuyer.com, the leading online business-to-business request for quote marketplace where customers can purchase products and services from a choice of highly qualified suppliers, will be offering its services to small and mid-size businesses through Mpower. "The process of identifying qualified vendors and making educated purchasing decisions has just gotten a whole lot easier," said Rob Slingerland, vice president of Business Development for BizBuyer.com. "Mpower customers now have a powerful destination point to quickly and efficiently find all the services and products they need to run their business."
Inc.com, an Internet initiative that brings the most comprehensive, highest-quality management resources to small businesses via the Web, is providing Mpower with an online stream of continuously updated articles, tutorials and research on the information and issues impacting small business. "Working with Mpower, we can enable growing enterprises to overcome their biggest resource challenges - time, money and lack of management expertise," said inc.com President and CEO Bob LaPointe.
These two service offerings will be available through Mpower's hub within the next six to eight weeks. Future business-to-business applications the company plans to explore include Web site creation, recruiting tools, customer care, procurement and human resources solutions. Mpower's Web site will also eventually feature a number of customer service enhancements for its voice and data communications services, such as online bill review and payment, trouble ticket entry and status, order creations and status functions, as well as the option to purchase services online.
Coincident with the relaunch of its Internet hub, Mpower has embarked on a national advertising campaign that strives for one-to-one communications with target customers. Mpower's national advertising campaign began this week in The Wall Street Journal, and will run in city business journals within its individual markets beginning in mid-to-late April. Mpower's markets will also be supported through an interactive media campaign that encompasses electronic business cards, e-commercials, Internet marketing, outdoor signage, print advertising and sports sponsorships later this year.
About BizBuyer.com
Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, with offices in Silicon Valley, BizBuyer.com is the leading online business-to-business marketplace that connects buyers and sellers of business products and services. The site provides a marketplace through which small to mid-size businesses can purchase a wide-range of business products and services through competitive quotes from highly qualified vendors. The BizBuyer.com community currently offers thousands of qualified vendors that are registered to quote throughout 63 product and service categories. Vertical market categories range from computer services and equipment, Internet services and insurance to financial and legal services, travel and transportation, sales, marketing and creative services. Since the fall of 1998, BizBuyer.com has raised over $60 million in funding from venture capitalists and strategic partners that include Staples.com, Times Mirror Chandler Trust Ventures, CMGI's @Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, eCompanies Venture Group, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Ventures, US Venture Partners, Intel and a host of angel investors that includes eBay's Meg Whitman.
About inc.com
Headquartered in Charlestown, Mass., inc.com fills a market need by providing a total service Web destination site for small businesses seeking the broadest variety of high-quality management resources. An outstanding, comprehensive site, inc.com facilitates fast, intuitive access to an unrivaled range of quality solutions, information and advice. This one-stop destination eliminates Internet clutter by assembling best-of-breed solutions that are rigorously tested by inc.com's technical staff before being awarded the trademarked inc.com "Click of Approval. Through this process, inc.com leverages and extends the unmatched reputation of Inc. magazine, the brand of choice and integrity among small businesses.
Note to editors: inc.com and inc.com Click of Approval are trademarks of Goldhirsh Group, Inc.
About Mpower Communications Corp.
Mpower Communications (a/k/a MGC Communications, Inc.) is a facilities-based broadband communications provider offering a full range of data, telephony, Internet access and Web hosting services for small and medium-size business customers. The company currently operates in California, Chicago, Atlanta, Southern Florida and Las Vegas. Mpower was recently ranked 12th in the Bloomberg Tech 100 listing of the fastest growing technology companies in the United States based on sales growth for the 1999 fiscal year. Further information about the company can be found at www.mpowercom.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this press release that state Mpower Communications and/or management's intentions, hopes, beliefs, expectations or predictions of the future are forward-looking statements. Management wishes to caution the reader these forward-looking statements are not historical facts and are only estimates or predictions. Actual results may differ materially as a result of risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, projections of future sales, returns on invested assets, regulatory approval processes, market conditions and other risks detailed from time to time in Mpower's Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
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