Although developments have taken longer than anticipated I remain invested and still believe in the ultimate success of INVT. This latest pr appears to set the stage for visible growth. I wonder if we'll hear about the "installation schedule" as implementation occurs?
PARK CITY, Utah, Nov 22, 2000 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- InvestAmerica Inc. (Optica
Communications Inc.) (OTCBB: INVT - news) Wednesday reported on operations
progress over the past year.
Doug Smith, chief executive officer, stated, "InvestAmerica has come a long way
in the 12 months since the takeover of Optica last November. Some of the more
significant milestones include:
Nov. 22, 1999 InvestAmerica acquires Optica Dec. 03, 1999 Two outside directors
appointed (Gemassmer, Fierling) Dec. 07, 1999 Letter of Intent signed to acquire
ZED Data Systems Feb. 10, 2000 Investment in Omnigon July 07, 2000 ZED Data
Systems acquisition closes May 15, 2000 Key management personnel recruited May
22, 2000 Listing on Frankfurt Stock Exchange June 08, 2000 RFI issued to Optical
Equipment manufacturers Aug. 15, 2000 VP, Business Development recruited Nov.
17, 2000 Lock-up Agreement signed by major shareholders
We are thankful for our progress and the support of our shareholders and
continue to focus on the key areas of financing, equipment vendor selection,
fiber acquisition, customer development, personnel recruitment and a NASDAQ
listing."
Financing
From January through October 2000, we raised over $4.6 million with four million
of that going to an investment in Omnigon International Inc. We are currently
pursuing a private placement (stock and warrants) of up to three million dollars
of which we have raised approximately $500,000.
Equipment Vendor Selection
Since the issuing of the RFI in July, we have been immersed in the evaluation
and negotiation process. We were very pleased with the large number of quality
respondents although it has resulted in a considerably longer evaluation
process. We were also pleased by the interest shown by a few of the respondents
in possibly making an equity investment.
We do not expect our overall deployment schedule to be materially impacted by
taking some extra time to be as thorough as possible with each vendor.
Fiber Acquisition
The continued construction of new fiber builds is putting downward pricing
pressure on both old and new fiber routes. We will delay our choice of vendor as
long as it continues to make good economic sense; however, a choice will be made
in the timeframe necessary to meet our deployment schedule.
Customer Development
We have refined our network architecture and pricing models in our discussions
with potential vendors to the point where we can now freeze our product
offerings and go to market. Initial reactions to our product suite from the
vendors themselves have been very encouraging and we will have a strong focus on
sales and marketing over the next few months.
Due to changes in the rollout of our bandwidth offerings, we will not initially
offer small enough channels to satisfy our existing $30 million supply agreement
(disclosed in our press release in January 2000). We are reviewing the situation
with the customer.
Personnel Recruitment
People are the key to our success and we are very pleased with the high quality
of individuals we have been able to attract. We will continue to focus on
recruiting the very best people to execute our business plan as the company
moves forward with deployment of the network. We are presently in discussions
with several senior level candidates.
NASDAQ Listing
We currently satisfy most of the requirements for a Nasdaq listing with the
notable exception of our stock price. We withdrew our initial application for
that reason and plan to reapply for a Small Cap listing at the earliest
opportunity. The execution of vendor contracts and the setting of a firm
installation schedule are expected to lead to added market support for the stock
price.
Smith added, "Building a major international communications company from scratch
is a huge undertaking and the board feels that we have the right people in place
to execute our business plan. The past year was spent laying the groundwork for
the future and a lot of our progress was somewhat invisible to outsiders.
"We expect that the coming year will see much more tangible progress including
the deployment of our national network and we will continue to focus, as always,
on building shareholder value."
Optica Communications Inc. is a developing, international communications
company, creating a global fiber optic network to deliver advanced IP and ATM
network solutions. We plan to be a carriers' carrier providing fiber optic-based
bandwidth and bandwidth-derived services to retail carriers for use in their
backbone networks.
The initial North American network is being designed to consist of approximately
20,000 route miles and we expect it to be operational within the first quarter
of 2002, with service on select routes during 2001.
For further information, please direct all inquiries to: Brian Kitts --
Telephone: 435/615-8801 InvestAmerica Inc. D.B. (Doug) Thomas -- Telephone:
604/861-9660 Optica Communications Inc. opticacommunications.net
mailto:dthomas@opticacommunications.net
Statements about the company's future expectations and all other statements in
this press release other than historical facts and "forward-looking statements"
within the meaning of section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, section 21E of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and as the term is defined in the Private
Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
The company intends that such "forward-looking statements" be subject to the
safe harbors created thereby. Since these statements involve certain risks and
uncertainties and are subject to change at any time, the company's actual
results may differ materially from expected results.
CONTACT: InvestAmerica Inc.
Brian Kitts, 435/615-8801
or
Optica Communications Inc.
D.B. (Doug) Thomas, 604/861-9660
opticacommunications.net
mailto:dthomas@opticacommunications.net
URL: businesswire.com
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