Nextel Offers Java Application Distribution and Management Solution to Enterprise Customers

Business Wire, March 25, 2002

Business Editors

JavaOne 2002

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 25, 2002

Over-the-Air Distribution Solution Offers Enterprise Customers

Convenient Mechanism for Managing Java-Enabled Handsets

Nextel Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:NXTL) announced today that it has taken its exclusive carrier wide over-the-air distribution solution for Java(TM) applications a step further by offering enterprises the tools to manage and distribute applications from their own private library of applications.

The Nextel Mobile Application Manager was developed in conjunction with 4thpass Inc. and is powered by 4thpass Mobile Application System (MAS(TM)) technology. The tool interfaces with the existing application distribution catalog to leverage the over-the-air download capabilities Nextel currently offers in conjunction with Motorola.

Nextel is the first wireless carrier to offer businesses such a complete application provisioning system. Enterprises now have an easy way to manage and distribute custom business applications to employees' Java technology-enabled Nextel handsets. This advanced wireless solution is being showcased at JavaOne 2002 (Booth #826).

This evolutionary step in wireless application distribution offers the enterprise customer the opportunity to take their custom Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition (J2ME(TM)) application and distribute it over a wireless secure socket layer (SSL) connection, to their employees' Java-enabled Nextel handsets.

Using Mobile Application Manager, the enterprise administrator can easily distribute Java applications to an individual employee, or hundreds of employees, in minutes. It provides Nextel's enterprise customers one more tool to wirelessly manage their employee's Nextel handset.

However, distribution is only half of the solution. The Mobile Application Manager also provides enterprise administrators with a full set of tools to manage their private library of corporate applications, and the applications assigned to their Java technology-enabled Nextel handsets.

"Our enterprise customers will benefit tremendously from this new private, over-the-air application management system," said Greg Santoro, vice president of Internet and Wireless Services at Nextel. "They may have thousands of employees who could benefit from unique enterprise-specific Java applications, but, in the past, if they wanted those employees to use them, the company had to tether the handset to a computer to download them privately."

"Now, we can offer them an automated way through which they can download their proprietary applications over the air to appropriate employees without losing time or risking security," Santoro continued.

4thpass, maker of advanced software for wireless carriers to manage J2ME applications, provides key components for Mobile Application Manager. In part, 4thpass technology allows businesses to upload, manage and update proprietary applications to their fleet of Nextel devices.

"Nextel clearly understands the complex mobile needs of enterprise customers. That is why we were eager to integrate our Mobile Application System technology to fulfill Nextel's vision for this marketplace," said 4thpass CEO Mazin Ramadan.

"The delivery of mobile Java services to enterprise will set a benchmark and ultimately determine the success of J2ME services for the North American consumer market," Ramadan added.

"This is a tremendous step forward for the enterprise customer, and we anticipate accelerated usage of Java applications by larger companies, as they begin to realize the convenience and security offered by Mobile Application Manager," said Santoro.

Mobile Application Manager

This new solution offers direct deployment of Java applications by enterprise customers with Nextel Wireless Web service plans, secure download of applications and the capability to manage their own private library of applications that can include both enterprise applications and applications available through the Nextel and Motorola iDEN Update web site. Using Mobile Application Manager, the customer can securely upload unique enterprise applications to the server and assign applications in their exclusive library to selected users that belong to that enterprise account. Administrator's can also simultaneously send the receiving employees a text message notifying them that a new application is now available for download. At their convenience, the employee can then download the application over Nextel's nationwide packet data network.

Since Nextel uses a packet-based data network to deliver applications, a typical application takes minutes to download and a subscriber won't use voice minutes to download applications.

Java-enabled phones by Motorola

Nextel leads the industry in providing business customers with wireless data solutions that increase the productivity of the mobile workforce. Last April, Nextel became the first company in North America to offer Java technology-enabled handsets, and, since then, the company has sold more than 1.3 million handsets. In addition, there were more than one-quarter million Java application downloads from Nextel's application distribution website since its inception last year. Nextel's current Java-technology enabled handset portfolio by Motorola includes the i85s, the i50sx, the i55sr, the i90c, the i95cl and the i80s.