May 22, 2001
Article

A Press Release So Bad Business 2.0 Editors Say \"Fire That Flack!\"

SUMMARY: Journalists are deluged with so many inappropriate and/or badly written press releases via email every single day that sometimes they get cranky. The editorial team at business magazine and Web site Business 2.0 have found a way to vent some of this steam: whenever one of them gets a truly dreadful release, they forward it to the whole team with the subject line \"Fire That Flack!\" Here's a real-life sample of a release that recently won this dubious award.
We asked Business 2.0's Feature Editor Kevin Hogan to send us over an example of a release so bad that it won his "Fire That Flack!" award. He immediately sent us this "gem." We've inserted "XXXX" in appropriate spots to protect the not-so-
innocent.

Subject: Wireless Market Breakthrough

Dear ________Jeff:


Pitch Letter.

Around America, wWireless phone service is in trouble. Ask anyone and theyaround and people will tell you the same thing, "I have a love-hate relationship with my cell phone." When and how will wireless carriers improve theAs tThe popularity of cellular and wireless has led to a shortage of network capacity,. M more and more cCustomers complain of poor quality of service, ; reduce interference, eliminate dead phoneszones and dropped calls?. What can wireless carriers do to improve service?

The problem? The worldwide explosion in wireless networks has resulted inled to an increase of wireless services and companieshuge increases in number of subscribers, minutes-of-use per subscriber, and number of competitive carriers. Strong pricing plan competition by wireless carriers has created huge consumer growth and record levels of voice traffic. This combination is already overwhelming today's wireless infrastructures. Add The addition of high bandwidth data services and the threatens of to a paralyzedparalyze the wireless infrastructure is very much a reality; already burdened as a the results of a high-growth, high-impact market. totaling Today there are already over 83,000 cell sites between the U.S. and Japan aloneover 5400,000 cell sites worldwide, and this number is expected to reach over one and one half million by the year 20035. .

The paragraphs below need some serious work. [might want to add something about the growth rate, such as how many sites in the last five years]

XXXX, Inc. has the anthe answer. Based in Sunnyvale, Calif., XXXX has developed a technologyies that can improve the wireless base station's capacity and coverage of wireless base stations anywhere from 1520-80%. The XXXXX solution works for on today's, 2G and 2.5G standardsnetworks, and will do even more for tomorrow's, 2.5G and 3G frequenciesnetworks.

XXXX' flagship product, superconductor technology increases XXXX systems, is - withbased on an advanced thin -film superconducting ormaterial and design technology - offer superior filter selectivity, which dramatically areduces the effects ofttenuating out-of-band interfering signalls, as well as enhanced receiver sensitivity. The result is , which improveds coverage and voice quality.

The company'sXXXXX technology can improve wireless networks' capacity, quality of service and bandwidth. [is this true? How do we increase reliability of the base station? How do we increase bandwidth? Are yo talking about reliability of the connection with the mobile? The useable portion of the frequency allocation? Or by bandwidth are you talking about data rates?] The company's technology improvement can dramatically cuts interference from competitive carriers. Two of the top ten wireless carriers in the U.S are already XXXXX customers. [the thoughts in this paragraph aren't connected]

To further familiarize yourself with this exciting company, please review the enclosed press kit or visit their website at www..com. Field trials at leading operating company sites have shown that The XXXX® receiver platform, XXXX' leading commercial product, is a fully integrated system. Designed for easy installation in wireless base stations, it uses is available for a wide variety range of standards and protocols. The platform offers the an exceptionally highest level of RF performance, excellent reliability, and ongoing product upgrade paths.

XXXXX expands systems can expand busy hour capacity by 80% in highly populated urban areas. In its first field trial, XXXX CDMA eliminated radio interference(?). Trials at CDMA base stations have shown that even moderate interference signals can Without XXXX, strong interference causedcause aas much as a 98% reduction in coverage area, representing a virtual collapse of the cell sites. Installing the XXXX thereby increasing increased cell site coverage by as much as 5 times. This increasesystem restores restored the cell site to its full capacity and coverage. Deploying XXXX systems into the network routinely results in 20-40% increases in minutes of use, from the first day they are installed.

The XXXX XXXXX® product line for commercial wireless networks is a family of fully-integrated systems. Designed for easy installation in wireless base stations, XXXX products are available for a growing range of wireless standards and protocols. All XXXX systems offer an exceptionally high level of RF performance, excellent reliability, and easy upgrade paths to future generations of wireless technology.

Without XXXX, strong interference caused a 98% reduction in coverage area, representing a virtual collapse of cell sites.

I would Also, I'd like to like to schedule a time for you to speak with the CEO of XXXX, XXX XXXXX . XXXX, during his visit to San Francisco on May 9th and 10th. He is known as an industry visionary and he'd love to share his thoughts with you on how XXXXX can improve the wireless world. arrange for you to speak with XXXX' CEO, XXXXX XXXX, to further discuss XXXX' innovation. His expertise is as a valuable reference for the wireless industry as a whole.

Please call me with questions at (XXX) XXX-XXXX.Please contact me at your earliest convenience to schedule a briefing, in any case, I will follow-up with you by the end of the week.

Regards,

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

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