APPLE AWARDS NETWORK CONTRACTS FOR ONLINE SERVICES TO SPRINT AND BT

Apple Online Services, the electronic services business unit within Apple Computer's Personal Interactive Electronics (PIE) division, today announced it has awarded contracts to Sprint, as primary contractor, and BT North America, Inc. to provide network carrier service in North America for Apple's future on-line services. 

Users of Apple Newton devices, Macintosh personal computers, and PCs running MS/DOS or Windows are expected to have access to these rich information services in the future. 

    As the selected network carriers for the United States and Canada, both companies will provide a key component of the new services being developed by Apple Online Services.  Network carriers for the Pacific Rim countries and Europe will be announced at a later date.

    "Through leveraging Apple core technology, licensing agreements and partnerships like the ones announced today, we plan to expand our portfolio of robust, fully featured yet easy to use electronic services delivered across multiple platforms," said Peter Friedman, director of Apple Online Services.  "Both Sprint and BT offer extensive network coverage within the US and Canada -- enabling our customers to easily access our services with a local phone call."

    Apple is growing its electronic services business to design and develop value added services which will enable customers to communicate with each other worldwide, to gain access to a wide range of information, and to use transaction services such as travel bookings and banking.

    "We have been working closely with Apple on a variety of projects for years, and as a result we've deliberately customized a network that will support users of Apple Online Services today and in the future," commented Kevin E. Brauer, the president of Sprint's Business Market Group.  "It's another reflection of our teaming with an acknowledged leader in the computer industry.

    "The combination of BT's 20 plus years experience supplying international network solutions to the information services industry and Apple's expertise in the personal computing area will allow Apple to provide world class on-line information to its vast community of end- users," stated Don Heath, vice president of Product Management and Marketing at BT North America.

    Apple Online Services is Apple's information services business unit and currently provides commercial information services such as AppleLink and AppleLink CD to 60,000 subscribers in 52 countries around the world.

    Sprint is a diversified international telecommunications company with more than $10 billion annual revenue in the United States' only nationwide all-digital, fiber-optic network.  Its divisions provide global long distance voice, data and video products and services; local telephone services to 6 million subscriber lines in 19 states, and cellular service in 42 metropolitan markets and more 50 rural markets across the nation.

    British Telecom is a leader in worldwide telecommunications.  It operates one of the largest networks in the world and offers a wide range of international services.  BT has annual revenues over $20 billion and employs a staff of approximately 172,000 worldwide.