PJT Project Telecom

RNS Number:2684A
Project Telecom PLC
12 March 2001

                  Project Telecom - #14 million acquisition

                        of subscribers from Hutchison



MONDAY, 12 MARCH 2001 -- Independent telecom services provider, Project
Telecom plc, has acquired the UK Cellnet and Vodafone subscriber base ("
subscribers") of Hutchison Cellular Services ("Hutchison"), a wholly-owned
subsidiary of Orange S.A., for a cash consideration of #14 million.



Project Telecom has acquired from Hutchison approximately 55,000 network
subscribers taking the total subscriber base for the group to in excess of
110,000.  The Hutchison business supplies telecommunications services to a
wide range of major corporate accounts including Nokia, Mobil, Inchcape and
Rolls Royce, and has a high average spend per customer.  In the year to 31st
December 2000 Hutchison generated total revenue of approximately #40 million.



"The expansion of the corporate services division is our number one priority
for 2001 and the addition of Hutchison's subscribers firmly positions Project
Telecom as the UK's leading provider of telecom services to the corporate
sector", said Tim Radford, Project Telecom's Chief Executive.  "As a result of
this acquisition, we have doubled the size of our corporate services business
and re-balanced the group's activities following a period of rapid growth by
the Retail Services division. We expect this investment to enhance earnings in
the current year."



The acquisition, which does not involve the transfer of any infrastructure or
employees from Hutchison to Project Telecom, was completed on Friday 9th March
2001.



The transfer of Hutchison subscribers to Project Telecom's billing platform
will take place over the next four to five months with Hutchison continuing to
manage part of the subscriber base during the transfer period. The transfer
has been carefully planned, in consultation with Hutchison, in order to
provide a seamless service to customers.  To this end, Project Telecom has
assembled a team with IT, finance, billing and customer service skills to
oversee the transfer and has seconded a management team to the Hutchison
subscriber management centre in Darlington for the transfer period.



Following completion of the transfer to Project Telecom, Hutchison customers
will be supported by a dedicated team operating at the company's new customer
management centre at Brunel Park in Newark where Project Telecom is currently
recruiting a further 100 customer services personnel.



For further information contact:


Tim Radford
Chief Executive
Tel: 07831 642911


Richard Cunningham
Finance Director
Tel: 07785 707070


Simon Bloomfield
Bankside Consultants
Tel: 020 7220 7477
Mobile: 07771 758517

Project Telecom (LSE:PJT)
Gráfica de Acción Histórica
De Nov 2024 a Dic 2024

Project Telecom (LSE:PJT)
Gráfica de Acción Histórica
De Dic 2023 a Dic 2024