News/Events

DIRECTV LATIN AMERICA SELECTS MIRAPOINT'S MESSAGING TECHNOLOGY TO OFFER THE REGION'S FIRST INTERACTIVE TELEVISION E-MAIL SERVICE
DIRECTV™ Will use Mirapoint's Internet Messaging Products to Deliver New E-Mail Services to over 400,000 Subscribers in Brazil and Venezuela

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL and SUNNYVALE, Calif. - September 25, 2001 - DIRECTV Latin America, the region's leading direct-to-home satellite television service today announced it has selected Mirapoint's Internet messaging infrastructure products to offer DIRECTV™ customers in Brazil and Venezuela e-mail service via their television sets. DIRECTV™ Mail is the first television email service to be offered in Latin America.

The Mirapoint-powered DIRECTV Mail service will initially be available to customers in Brazil and Venezuela and is expected to be launched in other Latin American markets by the end of the year.

With DIRECTV Mail customers will be able to create and access several email accounts, read, review and compose emails for delivery to any other email system over the Internet, as well as having address lists and other convenient messaging features. Each household will have the capability to create up to five separate email accounts. In the future, DIRECTV Mail customers will also be able to access their email accounts directly through the web and over Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)-enabled phones. The system serves OpenTV Inc.'s email client Interactive Television Application, specially adapted to the DIRECTV Interactive Television Platform, but it is open to other systems and technologies.

"With the help of Mirapoint's messaging architecture, we can continue to provide the best service to our customers in Brazil and Venezuela and expand our interactive offer region-wide," said Consuelo Sánchez-Octavio, Senior Vice President of Business Development, DIRECTV Latin America. "The addition of DIRECTV Mail confirms DIRECTV 's position at the forefront of video and digital technology solutions."

DIRECTV will use Mirapoint's Internet Message Servers, Message Directors and Internet Directory to power DIRECTV Mail. The Internet Message Servers will be used for storing messages and the Message Director will serve as an email firewall to screen incoming and outgoing mail traffic for harmful viruses and spam, ensuring DIRECTV subscribers a secure email communication experience. The newest addition to Mirapoint's product family, the Internet Directory, will maintain subscriber addresses, class of service and authentication information. It also will interface with the provisioning system.

"DIRECTV's move into email via television is an important milestone in interactive communication," said Satish Ramachandran, CEO of Mirapoint. "It demonstrates the growing importance of online messaging and gives people a new way to stay connected. We're thrilled to be a part of this next-generation of online communication."

About Mirapoint
Founded in 1997, Mirapoint designs and manufactures specialized, dedicated Internet messaging solutions optimized for fast deployment in service provider and enterprise environments worldwide. Mirapoint's cost-effective and modular solutions provide customers with high performance, high reliability, built-in security and easy integration with legacy messaging infrastructure. Named to Upside Magazine's Top 100 Private Companies list in 2001 for Internet Infrastructure, Mirapoint is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., with offices throughout North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. For more information on Mirapoint, call 800.937.8118 or visit its Web site at http://www.mirapoint.com.

About DIRECTV Latin America
DIRECTV Latin America currently has more than 1.4 million customers in Latin America and the Caribbean, reaching a total of 27 markets. DIRECTV Latin America, LLC is a multinational company owned by Hughes Electronics, Darlene Investments, LLC, an affiliate of the Cisneros Group of Companies and Grupo Clarin. DIRECTV Latin America has offices in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Caracas, Venezuela; Fort Lauderdale, USA; Mexico City, Mexico and São Paulo, Brazil. For more information on DIRECTV in Latin America please visit, www.directvla.com.

Press Contacts from DIRECTV
Jannice Reyes
DIRECTV Latin America
954-958-3251
jreyes@directvla.com

2007 Mirapoint, Inc.  All rights reserved. All company and product names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.

< Back to Current Press Releases