STP.L Regulatory News (STP)

18 Jun 2007 07:01

Spiritel PLC18 June 2007 For release at 0700h, 18 June 2007 SPIRITEL plc ("Spiritel" or "the Group") VOIP SERVICES IN MAJOR UK CUSTOMER TRIAL Mitel hosted VoIP and Wi-Fi platform in test phase with Regent Inns Spiritel plc (AIM: STP), the telecommunications services business todayannounces that Group company Ashland has recently concluded a trial installationof a new hosted IP voice and Wi-Fi platform with a leading UK pub and restaurantoperator. Regent Inns, owner of the Walkabout, Old Orleans and Jongleurs chainsacross 100 sites in the UK are trialling Ashland's new Mitel technology. This isone of the first trials of it's kind in the UK. Ashland is also in discussionwith several other hospitality and retail chains regarding their VoIP solutions. Hosted VoIP is still in its infancy in the UK but take up is expected toincrease rapidly as the potential cost savings and benefits of ease of use andfunctionality become clear. Spiritel has developed a full range of hosted VoIPservices and this major customer trial is the first of it's kind for theCompany. Ashland is a Mitel Platinum partner in the UK and in conjunction with Spiritel'sWholesale division, is one of only five telecommunications companies to haveinstalled and commissioned Mitel's 3600 advanced VoIP platform. The platformwill be used by Ashland and other Spiritel Group companies to provide a range ofVoIP services to SMEs and multi-site corporate customers across the UK. Enda Kenneally, UK Sales Director of Mitel commented: "This major client trialis a testament to Ashland's expertise in the hospitality industry and confirmsits position as one of our exclusive Platinum Solutions partners. Ashland'sknowledge and understanding of our 3600 hosted solution enabled them to deployIP communications on behalf of Regent Inns in record time, causing minimaldisruption to the operations of both businesses. She added: "We look forward to continuing to support Ashland and the SpiritelGroup as their success in the hospitality and retail sectors continues to grow." Alastair Mills, Spiritel CEO said: "This is an important milestone for Spiritel- it demonstrates our ability to meet the evolving communications needs of majorUK companies, leveraging our strong position in the UK hospitality industry andmost recently, our extensive experience of developing next generation hostedVoIP services. The trial is also evidence of our progress in delivering on ourbusiness strategy, returning value to shareholders through the supply of leadingVoIP technology to a growing SME and blue chip customer base." He concluded: "We are delighted to be continuing our long establishedrelationship with Mitel on these trials and we are and looking forward to futureroll-outs." For further information please visit www.spiritelplc.com or contact: Spiritel plc Tavistock CommunicationsAlastair Mills Simon HudsonChief Executive Clemmie CarrTel: +44 20 7160 0100 Tel: +44 20 7920 3150 Note to Editors Spiritel is a telecommunications group that offers a range of traditional andnext generation telecommunications' services and products to business customers.The Group listed on AIM in July 2004 (AIM: STP). Spiritel's customers who rangefrom large blue chip corporates to SMEs are served through the Group's twodivisions - Spiritel Wholesale and Spiritel Retail. Spiritel Retail was established in 2006 to offer a growing range ofcommunications products and services to a broad spread of UK business customers.Through the recent acquisitions of CallPlan Ltd, Networks Direct UK Ltd and TheAshland Group the division has gained relationships with almost 1,000 SMEcustomers and blue chips including Regent Inns, Marriott and Whitbread. Spiritel Wholesale provides a range of voice and data products to UK andinternational operators and is responsible for the development and hosting ofthe Group's growing VoIP infrastructure. The services offered to operatorsinclude UK and international call termination and the latest generation ofIP-based communications technologies for carrier and business customers. Spiritel is a consolidator in the highly fragmented UK telecoms reseller market.The Group proposes to deliver shareholder value through acquisitions, whichbring complementary products and skill sets to the Group's offering andorganically via the cross selling of Group products by fellow subsidiaries andjoint ventures. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange