IBM CANADA AND HELIUS, INC. PARTNER TO GIVE REMOTE SCHOOL HIGH-SPEED INTERNET ACCESS

OREM, Utah – Apr. 20, 1998 – Orem, Utah-based Helius, Inc. and IBM Canada are teaming up to provide high-speed Internet access to a remote school in Canada. The companies' satellite-based solution has helped Dr. Ross Tilley Public School in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada (located 50 kilometers east of Toronto), connect to the Internet at speeds and low costs typically available only in metropolitan areas.

The joint solution NetVista Satellite consists of bundling Helius' Network Edition™ for DirecPC™ with IBM's NetVista product. NetVista is a complete Internet solution designed to work with computer networks in schools today. The Network Edition for DirecPC provides the software to connect the school's network to the Internet via high-speed satellite link.

Prior to using NetVista Satellite, Internet access at Ross Tilley was limited to five computers in the library. Accessing some sites could take as long as several minutes. The Internet was not useful as a classroom tool because the delays would result in high student distraction. However, with NetVista Satellite, which was installed at Ross Tilley several weeks ago, it will now be possible to move the Internet from the library to the classroom.

"Reliable high-speed Internet access and the caching capabilities of NetVista Satellite are making the Internet a more effective tool for us," said Myke Parrington, a teacher/librarian and one of three site managers at Ross Tilley, an elementary school serving grades K-7. "With NetVista Satellite, we have expanded Internet access to 30 computers, and have no degradation in speed even when all computers access the Internet simultaneously. And the caching feature gives our students and teachers instant access to any site that has been accessed within the last 24 hours, making broader classroom use feasible at last."

"In our location, we needed a satellite solution to receive high-speed Internet access," said Parrington. "What NetVista Satellite has given us is better resources for teachers, greater educational opportunities for students and easier administration for site managers." Ross Tilley isn't alone in its need for high-speed, affordable Internet access in a remote location. As many as 50 percent of Canada's 16,000 K-12 schools are located in areas that lack the bandwidth for high-speed connections. At the same time, the Canadian government has mandated "equity of access" for Internet use in all K-12 schools throughout Canada.

"We have had a customized Internet solution for schools with NetVista for three years," said Fred Jennings, manager of Educational Technologies at IBM Canada, "but we needed to adapt it to a satellite solution so we could reach thousands of schools in remote areas. We started looking for an affordable solution well over a year ago, and in November of 1997 we became one of the first to test a beta copy of Helius' NT version of Network Edition of DirecPC. We instantly saw excellent potential for this product in our market, and the extensive testing we have done has shown very stable performance."

Myron Mosbarger, president of Helius, Inc., adds, "We are excited to see schools realizing the potential of our satellite-based Internet access. Together with IBM, we look forward to making 'equity of Internet access' a reality to even the most remotely located schools in Canada."

Founded in 1995, Helius, Inc. is a privately owned, Orem, Utah-based company funded by The Canopy Group. Helius developed the first software to manage Internet transmissions from a satellite to local area networks. Its business focus is developing software that facilitates the delivery and access of data to LANs. For more information about Helius, its products, authorized resellers or satisfied customers, visit the Helius website at http://www.helius.com or call 888-764-9020.

IBM Education is committed to bringing all of IBM's capabilities, technologies and resources to K-12 classrooms, and higher education, across Canada and around the world. As a comprehensive solutions provider, IBM Education offers a variety of innovative products, consulting and services for teaching and learning, networking, research and administrative applications. For more information, Internet users are encouraged to visit the IBM Education home pages at http://www.can.ibm.com/he and http://www.can.ibm.com/k12.

Dr. Ross Tilley Public School is an elementary school, serving grades K-7, located in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada.

NetVista is a trademark of IBM, Network Edition is a trademark of Helius, Inc., and DirecPC is a trademark of Hughes Network Systems.