WHITAKER ASSOCIATES
Washington DC
30 January 2002

European Directory Marketplace 2002 Draws Industry Leaders and Regulators to Discuss Market Evolution

Whitaker Associates, a leading consulting organization in the Directory Services marketplace, in partnership with the Association for the European Interworking of Directory Inquiry Services (EIDQ), today announces the five executives on its European Directory Marketplace 2002 (EDM) keynote panel to be held in Barcelona, Spain beginning February 4, 2002.

The executive panel, focusing on how entrepreneurial perspectives are rapidly changing the directory services marketplace, will launch the two-day conference and includes Günther Baierl, President and CEO of varetis AG, Ed Downs, CEO of ISx, Robert Nibelius, President and CEO of AHHAAA, Robert A. Pines, CEO of INFONXX and Nick Walker, President and CEO of Eturn Communications.

"The European Directory Marketplace conference is an ideal place to discuss evolving market trends, such as fully automated Directory Services, and Value Added Services, such as operator-assisted Location Based Services, with industry experts," stated Günther Baierl, President and CEO of varetis AG. "As a key player in this market, varetis is therefore very pleased to be a Gold Sponsor for the conference, and I am personally looking forward to taking part in a lively panel discussion."

"We are pleased to participate in this year’s EDM conference," said Nick Walker, CEO of Eturn Communications. "EDM is one of the industry’s leading conferences focusing on the European marketplace and is an excellent opportunity to meet with regulatory officials as well as key players developing and deploying product and service offerings."

In addition to the CEO panel highlighted above, presenters from telegate, Telewest, Nuance, Phonetic Systems, Sonera, the PhonePages, Tellme and Buxton Consulting will be included within the program.

EDM 2002 includes sessions that examine regulatory initiatives reshaping the industry, present business models on speech recognition and automation innovation and take a focused look at newly implemented directory models in Spain and the United Kingdom.

Organizations sponsoring EDM 2002 include ICL Invia, INFONXX, Information Services eXtended (ISx), Philips Speech Processing, varetis and VoltDelta.

"This particular market is rapidly evolving on a country by country basis creating numerous opportunities to expand the service offering within the industry," said Stuart Whitaker, President of Whitaker Associates. "Executives from directory businesses around the world come to our conference to gain insights into increased competition and to further build their business success."

For more information about EDM 2002, contact Whitaker Associates by visiting www.whitaker.com.

WHITAKER ASSOCIATES helps organizations take advantage of opportunities in domestic and international markets created by the communication technology revolution and regulatory reform. WHITAKER ASSOCIATES has particular expertise in competitive, technological and regulatory issues affecting specific segments of the communication industry: the Internet and other electronic directory services; voice directory assistance services; directory publishing; operator services; call centers; and payphone services.

Contact information:
Stuart M. Whitaker
+1 (703) 506-1220 - voice
+1 (703) 506-1221 - fax
info@whitaker.com