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chinadotcom Launches Fee-based E-mail and Short Message Services (SMS) in China

6/6/2004

chinadotcom Launches Fee-based E-mail and Short Message Services (SMS) in China
chinadotcom corporation (NASDAQ: CHINA; Website: corp.china.com), the leading integrated Internet company in Asia, today announced the launch in Mainland China of Short Message Services (SMS) and fee-based email services. Both services are part of chinadotcom's ongoing program to provide value-added services to customers of its Internet platform throughout Greater China.
SMS allows Internet users to send short messages to mobile phone users anytime, anywhere, without network restrictions among mobile operators. chinadotcom's SMS service connects 8 branches of China Mobile to offer SMS coverage in all major cities throughout Mainland China. Combined with an ongoing alliance with Cellstar, the largest mobile handset distributor in China with over 28 wholesalers and 7,000 retail shops in 25 provinces, chinadotcom is extremely well positioned to gain a significant share of the SMS market.
According to China Mobile, the number of short messages sent through the Internet is expected to reach approximately 10 billion in 2001.
The fee-based email offering is part of chinadotcom's overall program of subscription services. Subscribers enjoy a premium service consisting of an unique email account within the "__@china.com" domain - a nationally recognized brand which is easy to remember and has high association with China in the international community. The newly launched fee-based email service has been upgraded for higher security, greater storage and more robust architecture.
"I'm pleased that we are simultaneously offering new and improved fee-based online services to our substantial registered user base while strengthening our financial position for us to invest into new generation of products and services," said Jack W. Lin, Chief Investment Officer of chinadotcom corporation. "The early success of hongkong.com's SMS and the usefulness of SMS in Mainland China, which has the largest mobile phone user population in Asia, together with this successful launch of fee-based email service in China, should enable us to better monetize our portal network."
In July of this year, chinadotcom subsidiary hongkong.com Corporation, the first profitable portal in Asia and the leading portal in Hong Kong, successfully launched its SMS service locally and became the first portal in Hong Kong to provide SMS to all six local mobile operators. hongkong.com had earlier launched other fee-based online services such as e-Match, a dating service, and @-Class, an English language course.