WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., April 8, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Juno Online Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of United Online, Inc. (Nasdaq:UNTD), today announced the official launch of Juno SpeedBand, dial-up Internet access service that delivers Web surfing up to five times faster than traditional dial-up access. Juno SpeedBand works from any phone jack using a standard dial-up connection and does not require any new hardware. Juno SpeedBand costs $14.95 per month, which includes the $9.95 per month Juno Platinum Internet service, and can be downloaded in just five minutes at www.juno.com. United Online recently launched its NetZero HiSpeed Service, which also offers up to five times faster Web surfing for $14.95 a month, including the NetZero Platinum Internet service.
Juno SpeedBand utilizes compression and caching technologies to create a long-awaited technological advancement of dial-up Internet Access. By compressing the various text and graphic components before a Web page is sent to a user, Juno SpeedBand significantly accelerates the loading of Web pages. In addition to this compression technology, Juno SpeedBand "caches" or stores elements of Web sites that users visit, eliminating the need for the computer to re-download the data every time a site is visited. This means that the longer Juno SpeedBand is in use, the faster these Web pages will load. Aside from the obvious advantage of enabling Web sites to load at speeds up to five times faster than conventional dial-up, Juno SpeedBand also places a small "speedometer" on the user's screen that lets them know their dial-up session is being accelerated.
"With the introduction of next generation dial-up services like Juno SpeedBand and our recently released NetZero HiSpeed product, we can now offer consumers two services that give them the ability to surf the Internet up to five times faster than they could with a standard dial-up connection at only $5.00 per month more than our $9.95 Juno and NetZero Platinum services," stated Mark R. Goldston, chairman, CEO and president of United Online. "Since dial-up continues to be the number-one way that approximately 50 million American households gain access to the Internet, we feel it is important to continue to develop new technologies such as Juno SpeedBand that enhance the dial-up experience. United Online continues to be focused on providing value to the consumer with products that are not only priced significantly less than the current broadband offerings, but are also significantly cheaper than the slower, premium-priced brands of dial-up Internet services."
Juno SpeedBand includes Juno Platinum Internet access, which offers easy-to-use, reliable Internet service with thousands of access numbers nationwide, feature-rich email and WebMail, compatibility with all of the popular instant messaging products and serves no banner ads.
United Online licensed the core compression and caching technologies used in its Juno SpeedBand product from SlipStream Data, Inc.
To sign up and install Juno SpeedBand in less than five minutes, go to www.juno.com.
Juno SpeedBand is not currently available for Mac.
About United Online
United Online, Inc. (Nasdaq:UNTD) is a leading provider of value-priced Internet access through its NetZero, Juno and BlueLight Internet consumer brands. The company's high-quality services are offered at less than half the standard prices of its major competitors and are available in more than 6,000 cities across the United States and in Canada. United Online is headquartered in Westlake Village, CA, with offices in New York City, San Francisco and Hyderabad, India. For more information about United Online and its Internet access services, please visit www.untd.com.
This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the price, quality and performance of our Internet service and the new product and quotes from management in this press release. These statements are based on the company's current expectations or beliefs and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, technological, performance and other risks associated with introducing and commercializing a new product. More information about potential factors that could affect the company's business and financial results is included in the company's Form 10-Q and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (http://www.sec.gov/) including (without limitation) information under the captions "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and "Risk Factors."
References to pricing and savings amounts based on US standard monthly rates as of 04/01/03.