Mobile Operators Ezine

Kent Thexton, president of Genie, BT wireless’ leading mobile internet portal, will also become chief marketing and data officer for BT wireless, it was announced today. He will be responsible for delivering mobile data leadership and next generation services for BT wireless. In this role, he will report to Peter Erskine, chief executive officer of BT wireless and will work closely with all the operating businesses.

BT wireless has a history of firsts in mobile data leadership, being the first to launch a WAP network and the first to launch GPRS in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands. BT wireless has also announced its intention to co-operate with Deutsche Telekom on the roll-out of 3G mobile networks in the UK and Germany.

Peter Erskine, chief executive officer of BT wireless said: “At Genie, Kent demonstrated his ability to deliver innovative brand services that are truly valued by today’s mobile data customer. In this newly created role, we will leverage Kent’s experience to ensure BT wireless continues to achieve leadership in data and next generation services across all its operating businesses, building upon the Genie platform and capabilities.”

Kent Thexton added: “European mobile businesses are entering a critical phase in the development and delivery of essential data services to today’s mobile customers. All our operating businesses are delivering innovative mobile data services today to customers, and I am delighted at the opportunity to extend our leadership position further.

Following the successful launch of the UK portal in March 2000, Kent helped to establish Genie’s presence in 10 countries in Europe and Asia. Today, Genie has more than 5.5 million registered users and has achieved an average 103 million WAP page impressions per month during the quarter ending 30 June 2001. Consumer research shows that Genie is the most recognised mobile portal brand*.

Prior to Genie, Kent joined BT Cellnet as marketing director in 1998 where he was instrumental in the rebranding of the business and the launch of BT Cellnet’s pre-pay proposition. Before this role, he spent eight years in the Canadian mobile industry at Rogers AT&T where his roles included Chief Operating Officer and Vice-President of Marketing. His previous experience included Northern Telecom and Bell Canada.

Notes to Editors

BT wireless has a European footprint of wholly-owned operations in the UK (BT Cellnet), Germany (VIAG Interkom), The Netherlands (Telfort), the Republic of Ireland (Esat Digifone) and the Isle of Man (Manx Telecom). BT wireless also includes Genie, which is one of Europe’s leading portals. BT wireless owns third generation licences to operate 3G mobile services in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands - all territories where it has already launched GPRS services - and expects to apply for a 3G licence in Ireland where the application process is expected to commence shortly.

BT announced on May 10 that it intends to demerge BT wireless before the end of this year.

Genie is BT Wireless’ mobile Internet portal and is comprised of web and WAP portals in the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and a WAP portal in Malaysia with more than 5.5 million registrations in total.

For more information about Genie, please visit: www.genie.co.uk

*Genie traffic and user data sourced from Red Sheriff, 30 June 2001, Genie’s data collection software, data from Genie registration database and Genie Mobile sales reports all reported for quarter ending 30 June, 2001. “Consumer research” refers to independent consumer research undertaken by ICM in June 2001.