Telepartner A/S, Denmark, Sweden and Norway Signed by Network Solutions to Market and Service Internet Domain Names in Scandinavia

Business Wire, July 8, 1998

COPENHAGEN, Denmark--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 8, 1998--

Agreement Marks Network Solutions' Entry Into European Market

Telepartner A/S (Nasdaq/ADR:TPARY) (Nasdaq/ADR:TPAYW) and its Swedish and Norwegian wholly owned subsidiaries are three of six Scandinavian telecommunications companies selected by Network Solutions (Nasdaq:NSOL), Herndon, Va., to facilitate that company's entry into the European market, beginning with Scandinavia.

Scandinavia is percentage-wise the world's leading Internet usage market, according to International Data Corp., the world's leading provider of information technology.

Founded in 1979, Network Solutions has the exclusive right to such widely used Internet domain names as ".com," ".net" and ".org." These exclusive domain designations were granted to Network Solutions by the National Science Foundation (NSF) in 1992, at the time the Internet became commercialized.

The NSF is an agency of the U.S. government founded and managed by the scholars, researchers and scientists who conceived and developed the Internet. Initially intended as a "cyberspace superhighway" for science and research, the Internet has since come to be dominated by commercial interests.

While U.S.-based Internet users are accustomed to ".com," ".net" and ".org" designations, European Internet participants have up to now used country code designations -- i.e., ".Dk" for Denmark, ".Fr" for France, ".De" for Germany, etc. With growing worldwide commercial use, a majority of Internet companies are seeking the global identity that the ".com," ".net" and ".org" designations convey.

Network Solutions is responding to requests from all over the world for these designations with the creation of its Premier Partner Program.

The program is being launched in Scandinavia, which has the world's highest percentage of online users and which is considered to be one of the fastest-growing regions for Internet usage. According to data developed by International Data of Framingham, Mass., 80 percent of Scandinavian businesses utilizing computers also have an Internet presence.

Bertel Jensen, Telepartner director of business development, said: "The selection of three Telepartner companies to help globalize Internet domain names in Scandinavia represents a boost to our position in Scandinavian telecommunications by the leading world authority in Internet domain names.

"We expect the indirect financial rewards of this program to become significant, in part because it should bring us new customers for our other services. We will be one of very few options for the registration and servicing of global domain names in Scandinavia, and our experience indicates that the European customer prefers to obtain related services from a single source," Jensen continued.

"Finally, the compact with Network Solutions represents another step toward the fulfillment of our business plan objective of creating a highest-quality, service-oriented, one-stop, all-around telecommunications services provider for Scandinavia," Jensen concluded.

Telepartner A/S, since 1986 an independent provider of telecommunications-related services in Denmark, Sweden and Norway, started offering international telephony services in Denmark under the auspices of WorldCom in August 1997 and plans to expand such services in other parts of Scandinavia in 1998. Telepartner also offers such value-added services as Internet access, telephone inquiry service, and CD-ROM information databases and business trade catalogs.

Note: Except for historical information contained herein, this news release contains forward-looking statements that are dependent on risks and uncertainties, including such factors, among others, as the pace at which new markets develop and the company's ability to implement timely responses to market conditions. Further information on Telepartner A/S is contained in publicly filed disclosures available through the SEC's EDGAR database (www.sec.gov) or from the company's Investor Relations.

    CONTACT: Telepartner A/S
              Aldo Petersen or Bertel Jensen, 011-45-39-664961
              011-45-39-666600 (fax)
                 or
              Richmont Consulting International, Los Angeles
              Edda Brown or Bret W. Hughes, 213/658-8088
              213/658-9075 (fax)
              www.richmontconsulting.net (Web)
              richmont@gte.net (e-mail)