Press Releases

Alticast Selects ACCESS’ NetFront™ Browser for Interactive Television Services

TOKYO, Japan / NEWARK, CA, USA / OBERHAUSEN, Germany – January 11, 2005 – ACCESS Co., Ltd., (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 4813), a global provider of mobile content delivery and Internet access technologies, announced that its NetFront^™ browser Digital TV Profile has been chosen by Alticast Corp. to be included in Alticast’s interactive television (iTV) services. CJ CableNet, a leading Korean cable operator, will begin offering Alticast’s services in 2005. This deployment, which will include ACCESS’ NetFront browser Digital TV Profile, will be followed closely by service rollouts in other geographic territories.

Alticast’s iTV service is based on the DVB-MHP (Digital Video Broadcasting Multimedia Home Platform) and OCAP (Open Cable Application Platform) digital broadcast open standards. Alticast chose ACCESS’ NetFront browser Digital TV Profile to provide customers with advanced Internet browsing technology and capabilities for its first commercial deployment of iTV services. With NetFront browser Digital TV Profile, TV service operators’ interactive offerings will allow iTV users to access Internet content including sites offering information and services such as travel, weather, real estate, movies, tickets and games.

Widely recognized as one of the most advanced and successful browser solutions in the world, NetFront offers a comprehensive feature set including support for HTML 4.01, XHTML 1.1, SMIL (Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language) and BML (Broadcasting Mark-up Language). NetFront browser Digital TV Profile is specifically optimized for digital televisions, delivering a comprehensive and rich Internet browser experience on Digital TVs and set-top boxes (STBs).

“With its proven track record of successful global deployments, ACCESS is the right partner to help us provide our customers with the best technologies to deliver an exceptionally functional Web browsing experience to its customers,” said Il Hyung Kim, vice president of Alticast Corp. “The iTV market is rapidly expanding, and we are pleased to partner with progressive companies like ACCESS that will enable us to provide the best iTV services possible.”

“The immense growth of interactive digital television services presents us with a terrific opportunity to further expand the position and recognition of our browser technology within this rapidly evolving market,” said Toru Arakawa, president and CEO of ACCESS. “Alticast and its customers are rolling out innovative iTV services in Korea right now with global deployments to follow, and we’re excited to be a part of this pioneering effort.”

About NetFront Browser
NetFront browser recently surpassed over 150 million deployments globally that include 342 unique devices ranging from mobile phones and PDAs to digital televisions, gaming consoles, and automobile telematics systems from 90 major Internet device manufacturers. NetFront supports a wider range of operating systems than any competing browser including solutions for Palm^® OS, Symbian OS, Linux OS, Windows Mobile/PocketPC and mobile handset environments like BREW^™. NetFront browser technology is used by the world’s leading mobile operators, software providers and electronics manufacturers including Adobe, Alpine, Amoi, AT&T Wireless, Casio, Epson, Hitachi, Hutchinson 3G Group, IBM, KDDI, NEC, NTT DoCoMo, Mitsubishi, palmOne, PalmSource, Samsung, SANYO, Sharp, Sony, Telcel Venezuela, TCL, Toshiba, UTStarcom and more.

About ACCESS
ACCESS Co. Ltd. (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 4813) is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, with offices throughout the world including major centers in the U.S., Germany, and China. ACCESS is a leading global provider of mobile Internet technologies and consultation services for the beyond-PC market. ACCESS’ NetFront browser technology powers 342 different commercial products worldwide including mobile phones, digital televisions, set-top boxes, game consoles, PDAs, car navigation systems, web phones, kiosk terminals and intranet terminals. ACCESS’ NetFront browser technology is most widely deployed in mobile phones for NTT DoCoMo’s popular i-mode and FOMA^™ services. To date, over 150 million ACCESS software licenses have shipped from more than 90 major Internet device manufactures. ACCESS was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers market on February 26, 2001. More information is available at www.access.co.jp/english/ or www.access-us-inc.com.

About Alticast
Alticast is a pioneer in the field of interactive digital TV, providing end-to-end services and software solutions for the creation, delivery, and reception of interactive television content based on the DVB-MHP and OCAP digital broadcasting open standards. Alticast is “first-to-market” with deployed DVB-MHP products for terrestrial, cable and satellite operators. Alticast’s business areas include iTV end-to-end services, interactive applications, content management tools, transaction fulfillment, and technology licensing. Alticast software solutions include interactive services automation systems, digital receiver middleware, authoring tools, and iTV testing systems. A privately-owned company, Alticast has R&D facilities in Seoul, South Korea; a marketing center in Austin, Texas, USA; and offices in Beijing, China, and Frankfurt, Germany. For more information on Alticast products and services, visit Alticast at www.alticast.com.

ACCESS is a registered trademark in Japan. NetFront and Compact NetFront are registered trademarks of ACCESS Co., Ltd. in Japan. i-mode is a trademark or registered trademark of NTT DoCoMo, Inc. in Japan and other countries. NTT DoCoMo’s FOMA service is available only to subscribers in Japan. All other trademarks belong to their respective owners.

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