• Leading Internet Yellow Pages offers faster connection between consumers and millions of local businesses

PASADENA, Calif., August 17, 2005 —

SBC SMARTpages.com, a leading Internet Yellow Pages (IYP) site, has launched a comprehensive site redesign that includes a new look, enhanced search features, in-depth consumer shopping content and more information provided in search results. These changes make it easier for online consumers to connect with local businesses.

The new look starts on the home page - located at www.smartpages.com - with a unique design for an IYP site. Consumers can easily search for local businesses by entering a category, name, product or service. Because consumers will have many options for viewing business content and sorting their results, they will receive the most relevant information from their search.

"The new site represents a significant leap in terms of usability and performance," said Greg Sterling, the program director of The Kelsey Group's Interactive Local Media advisory service.

SMARTpages.com now features more than 100 revised City Guides nationwide with comprehensive, up-to-date local information, including local news, weather, sports, concerts, dining and local business information. SMART Guides have been designed specifically for consumers, with information in more than 20 of the most popular shopping categories, such as automotive, travel and entertainment.

"The SMARTpages.com redesign gives local advertisers even greater value for their online advertising dollars," said Myles Midgley, the executive director of Internet Yellow Pages operations, SBC Directory Operations. "As more consumers use the Internet to search for local businesses, we are making it easier than ever for them to find our advertisers."

SMARTpages.com advertisers receive more value than ever with a single ad purchase. Their ad also receives distribution on YELLOWPAGES.COM and Switchboard.com and soon will also appear on AOL Yellow Pages. SBC has also introduced popular new advertising packages, such as Print Ads Online and SBC Search Engine Solutions. In addition, SMARTpages.com offers priority ranked business-listing ads, sponsored links and custom Web sites. SMARTpages.com advertising is sold through SBC Yellow Pages sales representatives.

The SMARTpages.com site is operated by YELLOWPAGES.COM LLC - the Internet Yellow Pages joint venture from SBC Yellow Pages and BellSouth Advertising and Publishing Corporation. In November 2004, SBC and BellSouth announced plans to merge their Internet Yellow Pages sites and to purchase YELLOWPAGES.COM. The planned merger of the three sites (SMARTpages.com, RealPages.com and YELLOWPAGES.COM) is under development. The SMARTpages.com redesign serves as the foundation of the development of the new combined site.

"Our goal is to be the local search site of choice connecting buyers and sellers. We have one of the richest databases of local business information in the United States, and now consumers will benefit from our ability to provide search results that include this information," said Charles Stubbs, the CEO and president of YELLOWPAGES.COM LLC, which operates SMARTpages.com. "This is the first step as we build the Internet Yellow Pages of the future by connecting consumers to rich local business information," Stubbs said.

YELLOWPAGES.COM LLC is a joint venture operation of SBC Yellow Pages and BellSouth Advertising and Publishing Corporation. Formed in late 2004, the company currently operates three leading Internet Yellow Pages sites - SMARTpages.com, RealPages.com and YELLOWPAGES.COM. The YELLOWPAGES.COM distribution network provides exposure to more than 70 million monthly consumer business searches. In late 2005, the three sites will merge to form a premier Internet Yellow Pages site at the URL www.yellowpages.com.