FAST Unveils FAST MSearch, Enabling Mobile Users to Find What They are Looking For

CTIA WIRELESS 2005, NEW ORLEANS, LA — 15 March 2005 — Fast Search & Transfer™ (FAST™), the leading developer of enterprise search and real-time alerting technologies, unveiled FAST mSearch™, the industry’s first mobile search solution to collectively integrate content such as music, games, ring tones, and images with highly relevant content from the mobile Web, providing users with an optimized and more personal search experience on their mobile devices.

FAST mSearch, the latest Search Derivative Application (SDA) to leverage the FAST Enterprise Search Platform (FAST ESP™), takes mobile search to new levels by enabling carriers to drive profitability through the integration of their own content with relevant results from content providers and the Mobile Web. FAST mSearch further improves the revenue opportunities for carriers and content providers by powering a number of business models, such as personalized local search, targeted mobile commerce and advertising services, and multimedia search. Unlike branded applications such as Google, which threaten the business models of carriers and content providers, FAST mSearch offers a breakthrough solution that delivers an integrated and highly relevant set of search results from the Mobile Web and from content sources that meet all appropriate mobile formats.

“FAST mSearch offers a complete solution that addresses the need of the mobile end user, while also enabling carriers and content providers to own their own destiny in this space,” commented Ali I. Riaz, FAST’s chief operating officer. “Ring tones, images, music and games are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the content mobile users will want to search for and download onto their mobile applications. Search has become the number one way of navigating the Internet, and now FAST mSearch will enable people to also find the content and information they are looking for on their mobile devices. Based on the already successful deployment of our innovative search applications for several of the world’s largest wireless carriers and content providers, FAST aims at taking on a position as one of the most innovative vendors in the mobile space.”

“Mobile Search Engines have a potential to become a killer application given the fact that mobile search can leverage the subscriber's personal information that mobile networks already have,” said XJ Wang, Senior Analyst in the Yankee Group’s Wireless/Mobile Technologies practice. “Like traditional Internet search applications, Mobile Search will drive higher wireless Internet usage and create more opportunities for mobile commerce. FAST mSearch is well positioned in providing good search experiences in the mobile space with its expertise in traditional Internet and enterprise oriented search engine implementations.”

FAST has transformed enterprise search from a powerful, yet narrowly perceived function, into an enterprise-wide strategic and tactical capability of pivotal importance. FAST ESP and FAST’s portfolio of solutions and SDAs supply a complete information retrieval solution ideal for a growing number of key vertical markets and applications including e-Commerce and Internet Portals, Financial Services; Government; Life Sciences; Media and Publishing; and Telecom. For FAST, the search never stops.

For further information about FAST mSearch, please visit CTIA Wireless 2005 booth #6159 or go online to: http://www.fastsearch.com/mSearch.

ABOUT FAST
FAST creates the real-time search and filter technology solutions that are behind the scenes at the world’s best known companies with the most demanding search problems. FAST’s flexible and scalable integrated technology platform elevates the search capabilities of enterprise customers and connects people to the relevant information they seek regardless of medium. This drives revenues and reduces total cost of ownership by effectively leveraging IT infrastructure. FAST’s powerful enterprise search technology solutions are used by more than 1,500 global customers and partners, including America Online (AOL), AT&T, Cardinal Health, CareerBuilder.com, Chordiant, CIGNA, CNET, Dell, Factiva, Fidelity Investments, Findexa, FirstGov.gov (GSA), IBM, Knight Ridder, LexisNexis, Nordstrom, Overture, Rakuten, Reed Elsevier, Reuters, Sensis, Stellent, Tenet Healthcare, Thomas Industrial Networks, T-Online, US Army, Virgilio (Telecom Italia), Vodafone, and Wanadoo.

FAST is headquartered in Norway and is publicly traded under the ticker symbol 'FAST' on the Oslo Stock Exchange. The FAST Group operates globally with presence in Europe, the United States, Asia Pacific, Australia, South America, and the Middle East. For further information about FAST, please visit www.fastsearch.com.

© 2005 Fast Search & Transfer ASA - Fast Search & Transfer, FAST, FAST ESP, FAST Data Search, FAST Marketrac, FAST AdVisor, FAST InStream, FAST ImPulse, FAST Search Best Practices, FAST SBP, FAST ProPublish, FAST mSearch and the FAST four-colored logo are trademarks of Fast Search & Transfer ASA. All rights reserved. FAST disclaims any proprietary interest in the marks and names of others. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.