With Bell Atlantic Corp helping the Italians with their embryonic video-on-demand and multimedia plans, Oracle Corp appears to have consolidated an early need in the server software for the emerging systems and services, because Bell Atlantic Corp yesterday expanded its agreement with Oracle on video-on-demand services to cover development of interactive multimedia software and services for large businesses. Bell Atlantic has been working with Redwood Shores, California-based Oracle on the Philadelphia phone company’s Stargazer family of interactive multimedia services, and the expanded agreement involves joint marketing of multimedia products and services to public and private-sector business including health care, retail, finance, education and other organisations. The alliance will provide customers with digital network services, hardware, software, analysis, design and support. Envisaged are the possibility of a retailer opening a virtual store in Bell Atlantic’s electronic shopping mall, and of interactive multimedia kiosks that could be placed in doctor’s offices, health clinics or people’s homes to deliver a variety of information and services in a multimedia format, the partners suggested.
