Telecom Italia, Excite to Move Forward on Italian Joint Venture; Companies sign Memorandum of Understanding

Business Wire, June 3, 1998

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 3, 1998--Telecom Italia (NYSE:TI), the world's fifth largest telecommunications carrier, and Excite Inc. (NASDAQ:XCIT), a leading global internet media company, today jointly announced entering into a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding to launch an Italian navigation hub joint venture.

The joint venture will program certain portions of www.tin.it, the internet site of TIN, a division of Telecom Italia and Italy's leading internet access provider, as well as providing a comprehensive search and directory service in Italian under the Excite brand. Subject to the completion and approval of the necessary definitive agreements, the new service is intended to launch later this year, giving Italian consumers the fastest and easiest way to experience the internet in Italy.

"This initiative exemplifies Telecom Italia's aggressive drive to partner with global leaders that complement our strengths, particularly on and around the internet," said Francesco De Leo, chief strategy officer and head of international business, Telecom Italia. "Excite's technology and programming skills, combined with Telecom Italia's superior network and content assets, will significantly enhance the internet experience of all Italian internet users."

"Telecom Italia is a very strategic and strong partner for our continuing expansion into Europe," added George Bell, president and CEO of Excite Inc. "We are excited to add Italy, a very important European economy and a particularly fast-growing internet market, to our other European initiatives."

The joint venture will leverage the strengths of Excite's expertise in consumer programming on the internet with Telecom Italia's lead in internet connectivity in Italy to give Italian consumers an easy and simple way to get on the internet. Telecom Italia owns and operates one of Italy's leading sites, www.tin.it, as well as TIN, Italy's largest consumer internet access provider. Telecom Italia is also a leading provider of internet business connectivity in Italy and globally. Stream, a Telecom Italia Group Company, provides several original content internet sites. Excite has rapidly evolved to a leading online service, combining personalization, content and community with advanced search technology; localized European versions are available in France, Germany, the UK, Holland and Sweden.

About Telecom Italia

Telecom Italia, the principal provider of domestic and international telecommunication services in Italy, is the 5th largest telecommunications carrier in the world. Telecom Italia Mobile is Europe's largest cellular provider. Other activities of the Telecom Italia Group include the provision of software and IT services, satellite telecommunications services, the manufacture and installation of telecommunications systems and equipment, and interactive multimedia services and applications, as well as cable TV. The Telecom Italia Group markets its products and services through numerous strategic relationships, licensing agreements and joint ventures in Italy and other markets, including South America, Europe and the Far East. Telecom Italia is listed on the Milan stock market and its American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) are traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:TI).

About Excite Inc.

Founded in 1994, Excite Inc. is a global media company offering consumers a personalized Web start page on www.excite.com and a 'back to basics' Web search service on www.webcrawler.com, and advertisers the best one-to-one marketing services available online. The Excite Network consists of two of the largest brands on the Web, Excite (www.excite.com) and WebCrawler (www.webcrawler.com), and its subsidiaries; Classifieds2000, MatchLogic, Inc., Excite Japan Co., Ltd. and Excite UK, Ltd.. Localized versions of Excite are available in France, Germany, the UK, The Netherlands, Sweden, Japan and Australia. Based in Redwood City, Calif., Excite Inc. (NASDAQ:XCIT) has strategic relationships with America Online Inc., Apple Computer Inc., CUC Investments Inc., Intuit Inc., Netscape Communications Corp., Prodigy Internet and Tribune Company.

    CONTACT:  Telecom Italia Ventures
               Alex Nigg, 415/399 6563
               alexn@tiventures.com
               or
               Excite Inc.
               Melissa Walia, 650/569 2213
               melissa@excite.com