SBC Communications Announces Joint Venture to Launch Home Entertainment Service For SBC / Dish Network, SBC Yahoo! DSL Customers

Business Wire, Jan 3, 2005

SAN ANTONIO -- Service combines satellite TV programming with Internet-based video on demand, music on demand, Caller ID, digital photo-sharing and remote access

SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE:SBC) today announced it has formed a joint venture with 2Wire Inc. to deliver a home entertainment service that integrates satellite TV programming, digital video recording, video on demand, and Internet content including Yahoo!(R) Photos and music via an award-winning new set-top box -- and ties it all together with the familiar and intuitive SBC Yahoo! user interface. The joint venture is part of a two-pronged SBC video strategy to extend home entertainment video services to customers through either high-speed fiber or DSL.

The service will combine content delivered by broadband and satellite into one easy-to-use package, giving consumers a powerful new way to extend the SBC Yahoo! DSL experience beyond the desktop to bring entertainment content to their TV screens and stereos. Today's announcement builds on the recently announced expanded alliance with Yahoo! Inc. which calls for the companies to extend the SBC Yahoo! customer experience beyond the desktop. The offering will be available to customers who have both SBC | DISH Network and SBC Yahoo! DSL services. It is expected to roll out in mid-2005.

"The SBC home entertainment service will bring together many of the features that consumers want most, including TV programming, video on demand and Internet content and services, in a way that competitors and cable TV providers can't match," said Ed Cholerton, chief executive officer of the newly formed SBC Media Solutions LLC and vice president of SBC DSL. "It allows quick delivery of a complete, personalized and seamless entertainment and communications service to our customers while SBC companies build a fiber network. It is another important milestone in the SBC 'grand slam' strategy of leadership in landline voice, wireless, broadband Internet and video services."

The service will include a satellite TV receiver, digital video recorder (DVR) and storage for digital photos and music. Customers will benefit from the 2Wire MediaPortal(TM) technology, which will provide fully integrated SBC Yahoo! DSL, SBC | DISH Network satellite TV and home-networking services, and will allow customers to access photos and music and to schedule their digital video recorder (DVR) remotely from any Web-connected computer through the SBC Yahoo! user interface. A future enhancement will allow remote access through Cingular Wireless(R) phones.

Customers will also be able to enjoy total integration and control from the comfort of their easy chair, using a remote control and a familiar, easy-to-use interface on their TV screen. An agreement with EchoStar Communications Corp. to include SBC | DISH Network will help ensure that broadcast content works seamlessly with the new set-top box service, offering customers unprecedented ease of use for digital video recording, remote access and video on demand.

"DISH Network looks forward to working with SBC Media Solutions to develop this cutting edge service, which would combine our proven satellite video service with the promising features of broadband," said Nolan Daines, executive vice president of Broadband for EchoStar.

An agreement recently signed by SBC companies and Yahoo! to extend the SBC Yahoo! online interface to other products will ensure that the new home entertainment service brings a common look and feel to popular Web-based features including music, photos, parental controls and remote access.

The development of the home entertainment service with remote access builds on the SBC commitment to evolve the digital home into the digital lifestyle, providing convenient access to a range of communications and entertainment services virtually anytime, anywhere and from almost any device.

Key benefits will include:

--Satellite TV. Subscribers will have a variety of SBC | DISH Network satellite entertainment programming packages available.

--Video on Demand. Customers will be able to download and view on their TV screen a variety of movies from different entertainment services, all delivered via high-speed DSL connection.

--Music on Demand. Customers will have the ability to listen to high-quality music from Yahoo! Launchcast Internet Radio via their DSL connection and deliver it to their home stereos, entertainment systems and networked PCs

--Messaging. In the future, SBC local phone service customers will be able to view Caller ID and call-log information on their TV screen. Another future enhancement will integrate the recently launched SBC Unified Communications Service, which combines wireline and wireless voice mail, e-mail and faxes into one mailbox.

--Photos. Customers will be able to download digital photographs directly from their digital cameras to the set-top box or easily view the saved photos on a TV screen from a networked PC. Customers will also be able to access and share their SBC Yahoo! Photos which are stored online in a whole new way.