Firetalk and SINA.com to Bring Free Voice Service to Millions of Chinese in North America

Business Wire, May 24, 2000

Business Editors

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 24, 2000

Firetalk Communications, the most powerful, integrated voice service on the Internet, today announced a partnership with SINA.com (Nasdaq: SINA), a leading Internet media and services company for Chinese communities worldwide. The partnership will bring Firetalk's free voice services to SINA.com's Internet users in North America.

Under the terms of the agreement, SINA.com will use Firetalk to offer its customers a complete solution for instant messaging and voice communications. The free Firetalk download will also complement SINA.com's new Telecom Center, an e-commerce platform that delivers a wide range of communication products and services.

"Firetalk's feature-rich solution with voice mail, instant messaging and free worldwide conference calls will be a welcome addition to our Telecom Center," said Hurst Lin, U.S. General Manager and Vice President of Business Development for SINA.com. "Cutting-edge telephony services provided by Firetalk will support our comprehensive e-commerce initiatives and further connect our North American users with friends and family in Greater China and the rest of the world." With over 5 million registered users worldwide, SINA.com provides a Chinese language portal network of four localized Web sites that are produced and updated daily by local teams in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and North America.

"SINA.com represents a milestone for our company and a critical step in our mission to give the world a voice with Firetalk," said Bruno Tapolsky, chairman, president and CEO of Firetalk Communications. "The average cost of the first minute of a standard telephone call to the United States from China is $2.23. With Firetalk, Sina.com users can talk as long as they want, anywhere in the world, for free."

Launched in October 1999, Firetalk's easy-to-use application for voice communication over the Internet has registered over 1 million users worldwide. Partnerships with key international Internet companies remain critical to increase Firetalk's brand and user-base around the world. Firetalk recently announced a strategic partnership with World Online, the pan-European Internet Service Provider, to offer enhanced voice services throughout Europe. The growing international community of Firetalk users will also benefit from the recently updated version of Firetalk, which includes instant messaging and text chat that supports all language fonts available on Windows. Firetalk also hosts international public voice forums, enabling many thousands of people from around the world to form and share in grass roots interests across hundreds of news-related and human-interest topics.

About Firetalk

Firetalk is an Internet-based communications service that provides in a single, powerful application, a range of free services including worldwide calls, unlimited conferencing calling, instant messaging, voicemail, voice chat on any Web site, and the ability to surf and talk together. Firetalk is a robust yet easy-to-use solution for communicating with a wide range of Internet users, with a quick set-up time and a nearly flat learning curve. The Firetalk application, which runs as a small and unobtrusive application window on a PC, can be obtained for free at www.firetalk.com.

Firetalk Communications Inc., headquartered in South San Francisco, California, is leading the evolution of voice communications on the Internet. Firetalk is a powerful voice platform that is transforming the Internet into a next-generation communications system. Although various companies provide one or two Internet voice capabilities, only Firetalk encompasses them all. The company's vision and superior technology have won the endorsement of major investors and partners. More information about the company can be found on the Internet at www.firetalk.com.

About SINA.com

SINA.com is a leading Internet media company for Chinese communities worldwide, offering on-line news, entertainment, community and commerce. SINA.com offers a Chinese-language network of four localized Web sites that are produced and updated daily by local teams in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and North America. Voted number one by China Internet users in both the July 1999 and January 2000 semi-annual surveys conducted by the China Internet Network Information Centre, or CNNIC, SINA.com is a popular full service media company for the world's largest population group. As of April 2000, SINA.com had over 24 million monthly average daily page views and 5 million registered users. To learn more about SINA.com, visit the company's corporate site at http://www.sina.com/corp/, or regional sites at www.sina.com, www.sina.com.cn, www.sina.com.hk, www.sina.com.tw.

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