Good news for GBT. Remember they own majority stake in Highpoint.
Highpoint Announces Memorandum of Understanding to Form Joint
2/2/0 9:2 (New York)
Venture With Kast Telecom S.A. in Pan-European CLEC Initiative
NEWS RELEASE TRANSMITTED BY CANADIAN CORPORATE NEWS
FOR: HIGHPOINT TELECOMMUNICATIONS INC.
CDNX SYMBOL: HGP
FEBRUARY 2, 2000
Highpoint Announces Memorandum of Understanding to Form
Joint Venture With Kast Telecom S.A. in Pan-European CLEC
Initiative
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--Highpoint Telecommunications Inc.
(HGP: CDNX), an affiliate of Global Light Telecommunications Inc.
(AMEX: GBT), is pleased to announce that it has signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to form a joint venture with
Kast Telecom s.a. to build a pan-European facilities-based
competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC).
The new venture will aggressively roll out a new network to bring
high bandwidth last mile services to small and medium business
customers (SME's) in second and third tier cities initially in
Southern and Western Europe. Existing local exchange carriers
operate within limited geographic boundaries. The few existing
pan-European carriers primarily operate within Europe's principal
cities. The Highpoint/Kast joint venture will be the first truly
pan-European CLEC focused on serving the integrated communications
needs of Europe's SME's, and the first to specifically address the
secondary city market on a Europe-wide basis.
The joint venture will adopt a "smart build" strategy to rapidly
build out its network. A combination of ATM, IP, DSL and WLL
technologies will be deployed as appropriate to maximize returns
on infrastructure investment while ensuring end-to-end quality of
service for its customers. The company will offer a comprehensive
portfolio of integrated value-added voice, data, and IP services.
Under the terms of the MOU, Highpoint will contribute its existing
western European service provider, Axxon Holding Company B.V., to
the joint venture in exchange for a 40% equity interest in the new
company. Kast will contribute its existing southern European
operations to the joint venture in exchange for a 60% equity
interest in the new company. It is expected that Highpoint's
equity interest will increase to 45% over time.
The merger of the two existing business units will give the new
company a geographic presence spanning France, Italy, Spain,
Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and the United
Kingdom. It will bring together over 200 experienced staff and a
strong management team with comprehensive experience in the
European telecommunications industry.
The founder and Chairman of Kast Telecom, Mr. Magdi Houry, will be
appointed Executive Chairman of the new company and Mr. John
Cronin will be appointed Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Cronin,
currently a Highpoint employee, was formerly the Group Chief
Executive of NetSource Europe a.s.a. and has more than 25 years of
experience in the international and domestic telecommunications
industry including; senior roles in Teleglobe, Mercury
Communications and British Telecom, where he was responsible for
the strategic development of metropolitan fiber rings into key
commercial centers such as Canary Wharf in London.
Ian Watson, Highpoint Chairman, stated: "We are delighted to
announce this new business partnership in Europe. With the
combination of Axxon's and Kast's existing businesses and the
management skills of Magdi Houry and John Cronin, we have a strong
foundation upon which to build the first truly pan-European CLEC
company to focus on the SME market. The proven experience of
Highpoint's senior management in building CLEC businesses in the
US market, combined with the in-depth expertise of our local
European management team, give us great confidence in this new
venture's future success. This is a strong complement to
Highpoint's European portfolio of businesses and provides obvious
synergies with Vine Telecom's pan-European high bandwidth
transport network development."
Highpoint is an international telecommunications company with a
50% interest in Vine Telecom Networks Ltd., which is developing a
pan-European high-bandwidth fiber optic network, a 51% interest in
The North American Gateway, a facilities-based voice and data
telecommunications carrier based in Toronto, Ontario, and a 100%
interest in Axxon Holding Company B.V., which offers international
telephone and value-added telecommunications services in Western
Europe.
Kast is a French telecommunications company based in Sophia
Antipolis near Nice in the south of France with operating
companies in Italy and Switzerland. Kast offers national, long
distance and international voice, data and a broad range of value
added services based upon internet and computer telephony
technologies. Kast has embarked upon an aggressive roll out of a
full service facilities based infrastructure (CLEC's) in southern
Europe.
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Highpoint Telecommunications Inc.
Robert Blankstein
(604) 609-0100 or 1-888-234-4423
or
Highpoint Telecommunications Inc.
Ken Berry
(604) 609-0100 or 1-888-234-4423
Website: www.hgptelecom.com
The Canadian Venture Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved
of the contents herein.
INDUSTRY: CMT
SUBJECT: JVN |
