HP AND USA.NET FORM STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP
TO DELIVER OUTSOURCED MESSAGING SERVICES

MIAMI, E-servicesWorld Executive Conference, Sept. 10, 1999 -- Hewlett-Packard Company and USA.NET, the world’s largest privately held e-mail outsourcer, today announced a strategic partnership to develop and deploy outsourced messaging services for small, midsized and large companies. As part of the five-year agreement, HP will invest up to $15 million in hardware and infrastructure services to help USA.NET implement and market its commercial messaging solutions.

Under terms of the agreement, HP will make USA.NET’s commercial e-mail outsourcing services available as part of its portfolio of e-services offerings through its network of channel partners. Additionally, HP becomes one of USA.NET’s integral technology partners, providing UNIX^(R) system servers and storage, Smart Internet Messaging software and services to support future growth in the company’s business e-mail outsourcing solutions. HP also has joined USA.NET’s roster of corporate e-mail outsourcing customers.

The partnership also adds the USA.NET Professional Messaging service into HP’s Commerce for the Millennium offering, an end-to-end hosted e-commerce solution to deliver e-services to small- and medium-sized businesses. The solution features tightly integrated, best-of-breed components and a mission-critical infrastructure, deployed and fully supported by HP.

"This powerful partnership catapults hosted messaging services to the next level," said John Street, president and chief executive officer of USA.NET. "Millions of companies everywhere can now have the best of both worlds: access to a robust infrastructure, including HP’s industry-leading hardware and services, and our world-class outsourced messaging services. HP’s selection of USA.NET as a premier messaging partner for e-services is a testament to our leadership in delivering high-quality Internet applications."

"As leaders of Chapter 2 of the Internet, we are partnering with companies that can help our customers realize their visions," said Craig White, senior vice president and general manager of HP Technology Finance. "USA.NET’s strategy, management experience and reliable messaging services, combined with HP products and infrastructure services, complement our e-services strategy to make e-mail easier and less expensive for our customers."

Messaging’s Emerging Market Opportunity

E-mail outsourcing frees companies from the hassles and the high costs of installing, operating and supporting an in-house e-mail system. For smaller organizations, e-mail outsourcing also represents a long-term solution that provides "big-business" communications capabilities while leveraging economies of scale. By year-end 2000, at least 40 percent of enterprises will outsource at least 20 percent of their e-mail budget, according to Gartner Group in its July 1999 report, "E-Mail Outsourcing: Primed for Significant Growth."

HP Technology Finance: At the Forefront of E-services

HP’s new relationship with USA.NET demonstrates its leadership role in the e-services economy. Already among the top three lessors of computer systems globally, HP Technology Finance offers innovative financing models to technology start-ups and established companies that need expanded infrastructure to support growth. The partnership with USA.NET is a shared-revenue model in which HP’s payback depends on the commercial success of the venture. In recent weeks, HP announced similar alliances with other leading-edge technology service providers to foster the development of e-services and Chapter 2 of the Internet.

About USA.NET

Based in Colorado, USA.NET (http://www.usa.net) provides e-mail and advanced messaging services to more than 11 million customers including businesses, service providers and consumers. USA.NET’s offerings include USA.NET Professional Messaging (small to medium-sized businesses), USA.NET Enterprise Messaging (large organizations), USA.NET Web Messaging (portals), USA.NET Carrier Messaging (service providers) and USA.NET Ad Mail (publishers).

USA.NET’s outsourcing solutions offer businesses a scalable, reliable and globally accessible e-mail service while eliminating the hassle of installing, operating and supporting an in-house e-mail system. Net@ddress^(R) (http://www.netaddress.com) is USA.NET’s award-winning, Web-based consumer e-mail service.

About HP

Hewlett-Packard Company -- a leading global provider of computing and imaging solutions and services for business and home -- is focused on capitalizing on the opportunities of the Internet and the proliferation of electronic services.

HP plans to launch Agilent Technologies as an independent company by mid-calendar 2000. Agilent consists of HP’s test and measurement, semiconductor products, chemical analysis and healthcare solutions businesses, and has leading positions in multiple market segments.

HP has 123,500 employees worldwide and had total revenue of $47.1 billion in its 1998 fiscal year. Information about HP, its products and the company’s
Year 2000 program can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.hp.com.