Ericsson and Dagens Industri are developing mobile business tool for the future

Ericsson and Dagens Industri are developing mobile business tool for the future Ericsson and Dagens Industri, Sweden's leading business daily, are testing wireless distribution of financial information and transaction services to handheld computers. The service concept, known as "di.se powered by Ericsson," is designed for people who have to be able to receive, and act upon, information regardless of time and location. The cooperation began in 1998 with a trial project in which more than 40 members of Dagens Industri's "di.se" Internet service, who were equipped with Ericsson GSM mobile phones and handheld computers, tested a GSM/Handheld Computer version of Dagens Industri's "di.se" network service. The cooperation is being further developed during the spring of 1999 with a new trial project, in which about 40 selected customers of an Internet broker will be able to buy and sell shares and options on the Stockholm Stock Exchange and Options Exchange. In this connection, the service is being expanded with a GSM/Handheld Computer version of Internet-broker services. Using only an Ericsson GSM telephone and an Ericsson handheld computer, participants in the project will be able to keep up-to-date on the latest news from business and financial markets, and have the power to act on this information through access to brokerage services. "The strength of this concept lies in the fact that we are not only delivering pertinent information but we are also enabling the user to act on the information by performing financial transactions," said Lars Stahre, manager of Dagens Industri's network services. "To drive the growth of the GSM Data market, we have to be able to offer user-friendly services - with attractive content and strong brand names - that create added-value for the customer," said Jan Ragnarsson, project manager at Ericsson. "Today 'di.se' offers services with these qualities on the Internet and we believe that GSM is an excellent new distribution channel for increasing the availability of the services." One of the driving forces behind the development of Ericsson's and Dagens Industri's service concept, is the fact that many market analyses indicate that immediately following the beginning of the new millennium the number of "information appliances" connected to the Internet will exceed the number of Internet-linked personal computers. The majority of these so-called "information appliances" will consist of various types of handheld computers with wireless connections to the Internet. "The mobile service, 'di.se powered by Ericsson,' increases the access to Dagens Industri and its electronic di.se edition," said Hans Jacob Bonnier, executive vice president of Dagens Industri AB. "Simply stated, wherever the user may be, he or she has an interactive business newspaper in his or her pocket." Ericsson and Dagens Industri plan to offer the 'di.se powered by Ericsson' service to GSM operators, content provider, Internet service providers and other players in the wireless-Internet field who want to attract new customers, keep old ones and - above all - increase their revenue flows. Picture of the concept see http://www.ericsson.se/pressroom/phli_p.shtml Ericsson is the leading provider in the new telecoms world, with communications solutions that combine telecom and datacom technologies with freedom of mobility for the user. With more than 100,000 employees in 140 countries, Ericsson simplifies communications for its customers - network operators, service providers, enterprises and consumers - the world over. Please visit Ericsson's Press Room at: http://www.ericsson.se/pressroom FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT Lars Stahre, Manager Dagens Industri's Internet services Phone: +46 8 736 5710; E-mail: lars.stahre@di.se Jan Ragnarsson, Project Manager, Ericsson Phone: +46 8 404 9279; E-mail: jan.ragnarsson@era.ericsson.se James Borup, Ericsson Corporate Communications Phone: +46 757 56 12; E-mail: James.Borup@lme.ericsson.se Company Information Dagens Industri is Europe's 4th largest business daily newspaper with a circulation about 110.000 copies and about 470.000 readers .It is owned by Bonnier AB, one of the leading media companies in Northern Europe with annual sales of SEK 13 billion. Dagens Industri aims to present the readers with the most important news and events in financial markets, stock exchange, business and politics in 15 minutes. The highly successful online version di.se has seen a steady growth of visitors and advertisers and currently has about 100,000 visitors every weekday.