Infospace Appoints Executives to Lead Wireless Efforts in Europe, Asia and South America
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InfoSpace Appoints Executives to Lead Wireless Efforts in Europe, Asia and South America InfoSpace Intensifies Wireless Efforts and Continued Global Expansion Strategy With the Promotion of Steven Shivers to Managing Director of Europe, Kumail Tyebjee to Managing Director of Asia and Kent Hellebust to Senior Vice President of Wireless Services in North and South America BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 26, 2000--InfoSpace (Nasdaq: INSP), a leading global provider of commerce, communication and information infrastructure services for wireless devices, merchants and Web sites, today announced that it has appointed three executives to aggressively extend InfoSpace's market share in Europe, Asia and South America by bringing its leading platform of integrated communication, information, personal productivity and commerce services to leading wireless carriers, ISPs and portals worldwide. This announcement comes at a significant time of growth and momentum for InfoSpace with its wireless services being adopted by more than 80 percent of the United States market. The Company has communicated its strategy to bring that wireless platform and value to wireless carriers abroad that will fundamentally change how users worldwide will communicate, access information, conduct commerce and otherwise manage their lives regardless of the country, language, or transport method, making this a truly unified world. Today, InfoSpace has already struck deals with global providers such as Vodafone, with affiliates in more than 25 countries, and has already launched its platform of services with Vodafone Australia, Libertel and Austria One. "This validates our commitment to aggressive global expansion to capture additional market share in Europe and Asia and continue to break new ground like we did recently with the Brazilian carriers," said Arun Sarin, CEO of InfoSpace. "These appointments will enable us to continue our international expansion strategy at a faster pace than ever and enable us to gain even more of a global leadership role. We are perfectly positioned to take advantage of the global wireless Internet explosion with an experienced management team, strong carrier relationships and great services." Steven Shivers has been promoted to the post of managing director of Europe where he is now responsible for developing and executing InfoSpace's European activities. Shivers lead InfoSpace's Wireless and Information Appliance initiatives and was responsible for capturing 88 percent US market share by negotiating agreements with companies such as Verizon, AT&T Wireless and Alltel as well as Web appliance manufacturers such as Intel and PDA companies such as Palm and Omnisky among others. Prior to joining InfoSpace, he worked as a strategy consultant to many large high technology and telecom companies including Nortel, BellSouth, NCR and Lockheed Martin. Shivers holds a BS from Rice University and an MBA from the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business. Kumail Tyebjee has been promoted to the post of managing director of Asia where he is now responsible for the development and execution of InfoSpace's Asian activities. Tyebjee was formerly responsible for the business development effort at Saraide where he led its international development and relationships with more than 15 carriers worldwide. Prior to joining InfoSpace, Tyebjee was a principal at A.T. Kearny where he was responsible for growing the firm's consulting presence in emerging markets. Tyebjee's experience also includes directing large-scale business transformation initiatives, designing and executing new business development strategies and managing product lines across numerous industries including technology, manufacturing and finance. Tyebjee holds a BS from Bombay University and an MBA from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Kent Hellebust has been promoted to the post of senior vice president of wireless for North and South America where he will be responsible for InfoSpace's North and South American wireless Internet activities. Hellebust was responsible for negotiating agreements with various Vodafone global properties, as well as creating the relationship with InfoSpace's exclusive Brazilian partner, Telesystem International Wireless Inc. (TIW). Prior to joining InfoSpace, Hellebust was Vice President of Innovation Services for AT&T. While at AT&T, Hellebust developed integrated services across AT&T's WorldNet, TCI and Wireless properties. He also led the AT&T wireless team that designed and launched the first wireless Web service available in the US in 1996. Hellebust holds a BA from Wesleyan University and an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton Business School. About InfoSpace, Inc. InfoSpace is a worldwide leader in providing infrastructure services for commerce, communication and information to wireless carriers, merchants and Web sites. The Company's affiliates include a network of wireless and other Internet-enabled devices including PCs, cellular phones, pagers, screen telephones, television set-top boxes, online kiosks, and personal digital assistants. These include relationships with AT&T Wireless, Verizon Wireless, Vodafone Airtouch, VoiceStream, US West, Intel, Ericsson, Nokia, Mitsui and Acer America. InfoSpace's affiliate network also consists of more than 3,000 Web sites that include AOL, Microsoft, Disney's GO Network, NBC's Snap, Lycos, go2net Inc., DoubleClick, Dow Jones (The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition) and ABC LocalNet, among others. This release contains forward-looking statements relating to the development of the Company's products and services and future operating results, that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. The words "believe," "expect," "intend," "anticipate," variations of such words, and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, but their absence does not mean that the statement is not forward-looking. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Factors that could affect the Company's actual results include the progress and costs of the development of our products and services and the timing of market acceptance of those products and services. A more detailed description of certain factors that could affect actual results include, but are not limited to, those discussed in InfoSpace's Annual Report on Form 10-K, in the section entitled "Factors Affecting InfoSpace's Operating Results, Business Prospects and Market Price of Stock." Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release. InfoSpace undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, events or circumstances after the date of this release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Contacts InfoSpace, Inc. Adam Whinston, 425/201-8946 [email protected].