VIANET TECHNOLOGIES AND USA VIDEO INTERACTIVE ENTER INTO STRATEGIC RELATIONSHIP FOR STREAMING VIDEO SOLUTIONS
Thursday, 09 December 1999
Thanksgiving Day Internet Broadcast of LA Music Awards Creates Next-Generation Music Experience for Global Audience

NEW YORK — Dec 9, 1999 — [ PRNewswire via COMTEX ] — Vianet Technologies, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: VNTK), an innovator in visual communications and bandwidth management solutions, and USA Video Interactive (Nasdaq: USVO; Alberta: US) (www.usvo.com), an international supplier of high-tech Video-on-Demand (VOD) solutions, have entered into a far- reaching strategic relationship that integrates Vianet's wavelet technologies into USA Video Interactive's streaming video product line. The relationship involves USA Video Interactive in the development of an enhanced wavelet compression configured for applications in the Unix operating system, expanding the Lightning Strike offering beyond current Windows-based applications. This migration of Lightning Strike wavelet technology into the Unix environment gives both Vianet and USA Video Interactive the ability to offer multiple platform solutions that expand streaming video services to markets in which Unix is widely used, such as financial and educational organizations.

After extensive testing and comparative analyses, USA Video Interactive selected Vianet Technologies as the leading strategic partner for the provision of wavelet compression technology within its Windows-based streaming solutions.

Vianet's Lightning Strike streaming video wavelet compression technology is now a key component of USA Video Interactive's streaming product offering, which allows users to view streaming video or digitized video libraries for movies, sports, entertainment, education and training. The Lightning Strike wavelet method integrated into USA Video Interactive's products allows users in both low- and high-bandwidth environments to view high-quality streaming video without losing image or motion integrity.

"Vianet Technologies is proud to be a technology provider for the USA Video Interactive product line," said Peter Leighton, President and CEO of Vianet. "Bringing cutting-edge entertainment to a worldwide audience with full motion and sound is one of the most exciting uses of Vianet's video compression products. Now that partners like USA Video Interactive are making video streaming and video-on-demand widely available at any bandwidth, Hollywood can be delivered directly to Web users all over the world."

"On Thanksgiving Day, we Web casted the L.A. Music Awards throughout the world via the Internet and we had an overwhelmingly positive response," stated Edwin Molina, President of USA Video Interactive. "Our Web cast had more than 180,000 hits, many from viewers accessing the show from normal dial-up home modems. Incorporating Lightning Strike wavelet into our Video on Demand technology opened the door for millions of users to experience true, high-quality streaming video.

Under the agreement, USA Video Interactive has committed to $1.5 million in sales of Lightning Strike compression products, including a stocking order of $250,000. USA Video Interactive will enter into OEM agreements for all of Vianet Technologies Lightning Strike-based product offerings. In February 1999, USA Video Interactive had entered into a license agreement with Vianet for the ability to encode video for the educational market using the Lightning Strike compression engine.

"We are extremely pleased to see our technologies gaining acceptance by the marketplace with such enthusiasm," said Leighton. "The success of our current applications, as well as the increasing demand for them, reaffirms the strength of our strategy for growing and fostering emerging technologies in new market spaces."

In his keynote address at the 9th Annual L.A. Music Awards, USA Video Interactive President Edwin Molina stated that Web casting the event on the Internet "will give all artists at the grassroots level in the creative community the opportunity to be seen and heard by a global audience." He predicted the USA Video Interactive technology would "become the mainstay of all of our everyday lives, from the way we use the Internet to the way we watch TV."

About Vianet Technologies, Inc.
Vianet Technologies is an innovator in the development and integration of streaming video and image delivery technology and systems. The company offers outstanding solutions in the private and public networks including network access, value-added services, e-commerce applications and visual media communications. The delivery of broadband services and deployment of new technologies continues to be restricted by bandwidth limitations in both the public (Internet) and private (intranet) sectors. Vianet is solving these issues with the development of next-generation networking equipment and visual media technologies. Vianet is a publicly held company based in New York City, NY. Vianet is traded under the ticker VNTK. For more information about Vianet and its products and services, please visit the Web site at www.vianettechnologies.com.

About USA Video Interactive Corp:
USA Video Interactive is an international designer and supplier of high-tech Video-on-Demand systems, services and solutions. The USA Video Interactive technology allows users to view streaming video or to access digitized video libraries, including movies, sports, other entertainment, educational resources, corporate training seminars and other archives. The USA Video Interactive technology gives users full-motion video; the unique flexibility of standard, VCR-like controls of play, fast-forward, reverse and pause; and the convenience of a standard internet-browser format for access. USA Video Interactive can utilize MPEG-1, MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 compression techniques but prefers its Wavelet compression technology. The USA Video Interactive Wavelet technology allows direct streaming and download and play options; provides video images significantly faster and at a higher degree of resolution than with previously available methods; significantly overcomes bandwidth restrictions; and eliminates the blockiness and slowness of current technologies, all at a lower cost. An essential feature of the USA Video Interactive technology is that it allows extremely high compression ratios while retaining near-broadcast quality. More information on USA Video Interactive can be found at www.usvo.com. or call 860-572-1560.

About L.A. Music Awards:
The L.A. Music Awards (www.lamusicawards.com), structured like similar televised awards events, recognizes and honors the grassroots (local and national) music community consisting of emerging unsigned and independent record label artists. Established celebrity artists are also honored for specific contributions and accomplishments in the music industry through special awards. Live nominee performances and award presentations are intermixed throughout the show. Award presenters representing all entertainment fields, including music, motion pictures, television and radio, contribute to the entire entertainment extravaganza. For more information on the L.A. Music Awards, please visit the Web site at www.lamusicawards.com or call (562) 426-2577.

Except for the historical information contained herein, the statements in this announcement are forward looking statements which involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, the forward looking statements. Factors that might cause such a difference include, but are not limited to, those relating to: the planned acquisition by Vianet of PSI Communications, Inc.; the success of Vianet's application for a Nasdaq SmallCap Market listing; general economic conditions in the markets in which the companies operate; success in the development and market acceptance of new and existing products; dependence on suppliers, third party manufacturers and channels of distribution; customer and product concentration; fluctuations in customer demand; maintaining access to external sources of capital; ability to execute management's margin improvement and cost control plans; overall management of the companies' expansion; obtaining of necessary regulatory approvals; and other risk factors detailed from time to time in the companies' filings with regulatory bodies.

SOURCE: Vianet Technologies, Inc.
CONTACT: media, Stacey Gaswirth ( ), or Stephanie Mayo ( ), or investors, Vickie Gorton or Cathy Grittner, all of Shelton Communications Group, 972-239-5119, or fax, 972-239-2292, for Vianet Technologies, Inc.; or Todd Viegut, VP Marketing ( ), or Jennifer Hamlet, Marketing Coordinator ( ), both of Vianet Technologies, Inc., 972-702-1767.

Last Updated ( Tuesday, 12 December 2006 )