STP.L Regulatory News (STP)

27 Mar 2006 07:02

Spiritel PLC27 March 2006 For immediate release 27 March 2006 SPIRITEL PLC ("Spiritel" or "the Company") My Phone joint venture signs first contract for UK-to-India VoIP service Spiritel plc (AIM: STP), the telecommunications services business, is pleased toannounce that its recently formed My Phone joint venture has signed its firstcontract. The My Phone service is a low-cost VoIP-based solution for people inthe UK to make unlimited phone calls to their families and friends in India. Itis among the first services of its kind to provide an unlimited call tariff toIndia. The initial contract has been signed with India-based Edwise International, aleading organisation that places Indian students in universities and othereducational establishments in the UK and worldwide. My Phone, in which Spiritel holds a 50 per cent stake, is based on Spiritel'sVoIP product suite and highlights the way that VoIP is revolutionising callcosts for international and national call traffic. It also underlines Spiritel'sposition at the forefront of monetising VoIP telephony through the creation ofinnovative, niche product lines. For a fee of just £13 per month, plus an up-front installation fee, UK-basedIndians can phone their families in India from almost any UK phone on anunlimited basis. The service requires the installation of a low-priced IP phonein the Indian family home, which is allocated an 0207 number. My Phone'sin-country partner has the ability to install IP phones almost anywhere inIndia, where broadband internet access is growing significantly. My Phone is a highly competitive alternative to calling cards, currently awidely used method for low cost international calls and under which a typicalrate from the UK to India is 8p per minute. Edwise International, which was founded in 1991, specialises in assisting Indianstudents to find places in universities in the UK and elsewhere. It will promotethe My Phone service to all students it places in the UK. Spiritel is in discussions with a number of additional resellers in connectionwith the My Phone service and intends to formally launch the service next month. Alastair Mills, Spiritel's Chief Executive, commented: "I am very excited by theMy Phone joint venture, which is among the first to provide an unlimited calltariff to India and which has the potential to revolutionise the way that peoplein the UK phone their families and friends in India. I am delighted that ourfirst My Phone agreement is with Edwise International, whose students placed inthe UK exemplify the potential customer base of the My Phone service." ENDS For further information: Spiritel plc 020 7160 0100Alastair Mills, Chief Executive Teather & Greenwood 020 7426 9000Jeff Keating Buchanan Communications 020 7466 5000Mark CourtMary-Jane Johnson Notes for Editors: About Spiritel plc Spiritel (AIM: STP) is the holding company for a growing group of companieswhose focus is telecommunications services and products. Spiritel, through itsSpiritel Technologies division, has developed a suite of leading-edge VoIPproducts, positioning the Company to benefit from the migration from traditionaltelephony to VoIP services. Spiritel Technologies' route to market is viareseller partners. Spiritel's initial trading division, Expo Communications, wasfounded in 2000 and is one of Europe's leading call termination businessesfocussing on calls from fixed lines to mobiles. Expo's client base includesTelewest, Level (3), One.Tel and Your Communications among others. SpiritelTechnologies' VoIP products are highly complementary to Expo's terminationservices as most phone calls made via VoIP require termination in the same wayas calls from traditional fixed line phones. Spiritel joined the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in July 2004. For further information please visit www.spiritelplc.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange