Microsoft today announced additional broadband provider partners for the Xbox®
Live service – the ultimate high-speed gaming arena and the first and only integrated
community sharing in exhilarating, always-connected broadband gaming experiences.

As part of the Xbox Live Compatibility Programme, the 22 new broadband partners
are working with Xbox to provide offers for their customers over the coming
months, and are joined in the programme by 50 other broadband providers in North
America, Japan and Europe.

The new partners are from the eight countries that will be launching Xbox Live
in October: Australia, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Korea, Norway and
Switzerland. They include: . . .

  • Australia: OptusNet (Cable), Telstra Big Pond (DSL/Cable)
  • Austria: UPC/chello (cable), Telekom Austria (DSL)
  • Denmark: TDC (DSL/cable), Telia Stofa (cable)
  • Finland: Elisa (DSL), Helsinki Television (HTV Cable) (cable), TeliaSonera
    Finland (DSL)
  • Ireland: Eircom (DSL), Esat BT (DSL), NTL (cable)
  • Korea: KT (DSL)
  • Norway: UPC/chello (cable), NextGenTel (DSL), Telenor (DSL),
  • Switzerland: Bluewin (DSL), sunrise (DSL)

Microsoft is committed to continuing the development of broadband partnerships
for Xbox Live and will be expanding on the current partnership with Wanadoo
(France Telecom) to cover the Netherlands, Spain and the UK (Freeserve) as well
as adding Wind in Italy.

The Compatibility Programme helps ensure gamers can find broadband packages
that allow them to connect to Xbox Live quickly and intuitively, making it even
easier to enjoy the fast-action, always-on broadband gaming experience that
is Xbox Live. Participating broadband partners will work with Xbox to ensure
compatibility of their broadband service with Xbox Live, co-develop connectivity
packages and co-marketing initiatives, and work to ensure playing and connecting
Xbox Live is as intuitive as possible.

“Building and maintaining great relationships with partners such as broadband
providers and other third parties is key to the success of Xbox Live” said
Michel Cassius, senior director, Xbox platform and marketing. “Xbox Live
is a killer app for gamers and a boon to broadband providers, helping to drive
broadband adoption. Together with these partners we will combine exceptional
gaming experiences, a world-class service and a viable business model so all
parts of the online ecosystem thrive”.

Xbox Live, currently available in the US, Canada, Japan, Belgium, France, Germany,
Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the UK, is the most successful paid
online gaming service with more subscribers than any competitive paid online
gaming site.

Xbox is growing the online gaming community with Xbox Live. In less than 11
months Xbox Live, the only dedicated broadband online gaming service, has taken
off with more than 500,000 people playing on Xbox Live worldwide and participating
in more than 15 million gaming sessions every week. Xbox Live has hosted more
games to date than the number of games played in the histories of the NFL, NBA,
NHL and Major League Baseball combined. Fifty Live-enabled Xbox games are expected
by the end of this calendar year and 100 by the end of FY’04.

About Microsoft Game Studios
Microsoft Game Studios is a leading worldwide publisher and developer of games
for Xbox, the PC and online platforms. Comprised of a network of top developers,
Microsoft Game Studios is committed to creating innovative and diverse game
portfolios for Xbox (www.xbox.com),
including such franchises as “Halo,” “Project Gotham Racing”
and “Rallisport Challenge”, and PC (www.microsoft.com/games/),
including such franchises as “Age of Empires,” “Flight Simulator”
and “Zoo Tycoon”.

About Xbox
Xbox (http://www.xbox.com) is the video game
system from Microsoft that brings people together for the most exhilarating
game and entertainment experiences. Xbox delivers an expansive collection of
breakthrough games, powerful hardware and the unified Xbox Live online service.
The new tagline, “it’s good to play together,” captures the spirit
of Xbox as the social hub of the new digital entertainment lifestyle. Xbox is
now available in Europe for an estimated street price of €199.99/£129.99.

About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader
in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing.
The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower
people through great software – any time, any place and on any device.

Filed under: Xbox Live

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