Simplexity Chosen as Telecommunications Marketplace Provider for Intuit's QuickBooks Internet Gateway and Web Properties

Business Wire, May 2, 2000

Business Editors

RESTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 2, 2000

Alliance to Offer Online Telecommunications Selection from Major

Carriers to Small Businesses Through the QuickBooks Internet Gateway

Simplexity, Inc. has been chosen as the telecommunications marketplace for Intuit's (NASDAQ: INTU) QuickBooks(R) 2000,QuickBooks Pro(R) 2000, QuickBooks.com and the Small Business Channel on Quicken.com.

Small and medium businesses using the latest version of Intuit's QuickBooks or visiting those Web sites will be able to find the best telecommunications services for their company by comparing plans, requesting competitive bids from carriers and ordering services online as the result of an agreement announced today between Intuit Inc. and Simplexity (www.simplexity.com), the only telecommunications marketplace that has direct relationships with all the major carriers.

"Intuit's strategy is to provide web-enabled services, connected to QuickBooks, that help our customers run their businesses better and smarter," said Dan Nye, vice president of QuickBooks Internet Solutions. "By aligning with Simplexity, we offer our customers an unbiased source for comparing and choosing the best services for their telecommunications needs."

Telecommunications represents one of the biggest expenses for small businesses and yet these businesses generally do not have the resources to search for and find the services and pricing that are best for their business. Simplexity is the first company to offer a neutral and unbiased telecommunications marketplace that enables small and medium businesses to learn about, compare, choose and purchase telecommunications services online direct from the leading providers. The small and medium business market represents about $59 billion of the U.S. telecommunications services market and represents the fastest growing segment of the overall $269 billion U.S. telecom services market, according to the Yankee Group, a Boston-based market research firm.

Through the arrangement, Simplexity will gain access to the QuickBooks customer base through the QuickBooks Internet Gateway as well as Quickbooks.com and the Small Business Channel on Quicken.com. There are over two million small businesses using a version of QuickBooks today, which provides Simplexity, the most comprehensive telecommunications marketplace on the Internet, the ability to further expand its reach into the small business market. QuickBooks customers typically spend more than 10 hours a week using the software and the availability of Simplexity's service through the QuickBooks Internet Gateway helps customers using the latest version of QuickBooks to save time and money when researching and choosing telecommunications services. Simplexity has promotions designed exclusively for the QuickBooks customer base. For a limited time, customers purchasing a business long distance plan from Simplexity will receive a rebate for up to $500 in long distance charges. Certain restrictions apply.

Exclusively endorsed as the official telecommunications marketplace for the National Federation of Independent Business, the nation's largest small business advocacy organization with over 600,000 members, Simplexity is the only company authorized to have direct access to the rates and plans of every major long-distance carrier. Additionally, the company offers a choice of wireless phones and plans from virtually every leading company in the market. The Simplexity marketplace will soon offer local, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) and data services from Internet Service Providers and Web hosting companies. This combination of services empowers small businesses using QuickBooks 2000, or the QuickBooks.com website, with a comprehensive tool to get control of their communications services needs.

"Small business owners tell us they find the telecommunications marketplace very confusing," said Thomas J. Kilcoyne, president and CEO of Simplexity. "And because they have limited resources to run their businesses, they say they often just make do with less than optimal services. Now they can come to the Simplexity.com site, easily make sense of the services available to them, and then anonymously request the top carriers to bid head-to-head for their business. The addition of Intuit's QuickBooks into the process puts this service right at their fingertips."

Telecommunications carriers and data service providers can benefit significantly from the Simplexity-Intuit alliance, because it should help accelerate adoption of emerging services in a market that is both difficult to reach and sometimes slow to embrace these enabling technologies.

About Simplexity, Inc.

Founded in 1998 and headquartered in Reston, VA, Simplexity's mission is to change the way telecommunications are bought and sold by bringing clarity to the complex and confusing telecommunications marketplace. Simplexity is the only company with direct access to the services, plans and pricing of every leading carrier, enabling users to learn about, compare and choose -- all at no extra charge -- between the thousands of options available to them. In turn, Simplexity provides a forum for carriers to interact directly with small and medium businesses, the fastest growing but most fragmented segment of the telecom market. The unique and powerful benefits of Simplexity's Web site (www.simplexity.com) and Xact architecture has attracted every major carrier, as well as numerous strategic partners and association endorsements.