World's Best IR Websites™ in the Telecommunications Sector

Out of the 33 large-cap companies evaluated over the past six months, six companies achieved a score worthy of the World's Best IR Websites™ designation. In order of their ranking, they are:

1. Telekom Austria AG
2. Deutsche Telekom AG
3. BCE Inc.
4. Portugal Telecom
5. Verizon Communications
6. TELUS Corp.

Companies recognized as having World's Best IR Websites™ are an elite group. They have achieved a high ranking after a detailed evaluation in IR Web Report's survey of online investor relations communication practices.

World's Best IR Websites™ companies demonstrate a strong commitment to communicating effectively, openly and fairly with all investors. They provide broad and deep investor information and their websites are well-designed and easier to use than most other sites. World's Best IR Websites™ are also kept up to date and are actively managed.

In addition, companies may not use invasive tracking technologies on their websites that enable them to monitor and compile detailed reports on identifiable investors' website use.

Survey constituents
The following 33 companies were included in the survey (in alphabetical order):
ALLTEL Corporation; AT&T Inc.; BCE Inc.; Belgacom SA; BellSouth Corporation; BT Group plc; Cable & Wireless; China Unicom Limited; China Mobile (Hong Kong) Ltd.; Deutsche Telekom AG; France Telecom SA; KPN NV; Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp.; NTT Docomo, Inc.; Portugal Telecom SGPS SA; Qwest Communications Intl Inc.; Rogers Communications Inc.; SK Telecom Co., Ltd.; Sprint Nextel Corporation; Swisscom AG; Tele Norte Leste Participacoes S.A.; Telecom Italia S.P.A.; Telecom New Zealand; Telefonica, S.A.; Teléfonos de México; Telekom Austria AG; Telenor ASA; TeliaSonera AB; Telkom SA Limited; Telstra Corporation Limited; TELUS Corporation; Verizon Communications; Vodafone Group plc.

How we choose the sites
IR Web Report inspects more than 500 investor relations websites every six months. Companies in the survey are mostly international large-cap companies in North America, Europe and Asia.

Each company's investor relations website is inspected against 134 criteria informed by surveys with institutional and retail investors. The criteria cover financial and corporate governance information, shareholder services, securities trading, news and events, and the ease of use of the site.

From the criteria, we calculate a total score for each company that measures the overall effectiveness and credibility of the site and its information. The formula has four inputs:

• Completeness of the site's content in terms of depth, breadth and timeliness.
  
• Transparency of the site in terms the availability and prominence of high value information.
  
• Service attitude of the site in terms of resources and services offered to shareholders.
  
• Ease of use of the site including navigation, information design and technical formatting.

To be selected as World's Best IR Websites™, companies have to achieve a score over a specific threshold.

Why World's Best IR Websites™?
By recognizing companies with the best IR websites, IR Web Report aims to encourage more companies to use the Web effectively. This can benefit all investors because the Internet has the ability to democratize access to corporate information to give all investors an equal chance to make informed decisions.

Complete list of the companies we cover