Viatel Signs Interconnect Agreement with Deutsche Telekom
PR Newswire, Monday, December 15, 1997 at 07:17
NEW YORK, Dec. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Viatel, Inc. (Nasdaq-NNM: VYTL), a
facilities-based provider of national and international long-distance
telecommunications services, announced today that it has signed an agreement
with Deutsche Telekom (DT) to interconnect their public networks. The
contract covers the technical, operational and commercial implementation of
the interconnection, which is expected to become operational in January, 1998.
Viatel also said today that Viatel GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of
Viatel, has filed applications with the German Ministry of Post and
Telecommunications for licenses to provide unrestricted nationwide voice
telephony services, and to build and operate infrastructure and facilities in
designated geographic areas within Germany.
Interconnection with DT will provide Viatel customers with the ability to
seamlessly originate and terminate calls to any location served by DT's
national telephone network, the largest and most ubiquitous in Germany. DT
customers will also have access to services available from Viatel.
Interconnection will be implemented at Viatel's Nortel DMS 100 switch recently
installed in Frankfurt to augment the company's existing Wyatt MRX 2000
domestic switch.
Germany's public telecommunications market is the largest in the European
Union and exceeded $48 billion (US) in revenues in 1995, according to the most
recent figures available from the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and
Development.
"This represents a significant milestone in expanding Viatel's European
network access and positioning the company as liberalization accelerates in
1998," said Michael Mahoney, President & CEO of Viatel. "It will also allow
us to leverage our infrastructure investment in advanced switching platforms
and transatlantic fiber capacity in key business markets in Germany."
Viatel joins companies, including Worldcom and Tele Danmark, who have
completed interconnect agreements with DT. Earlier this year, Viatel
announced signing of interconnection agreements with British Telecom and Cable
& Wireless Communications, in the U.K. and Infostrada in Italy. These accords
will allow Viatel's European customers to benefit from the company's "first to
market" position in advance of the full deregulation of European
telecommunications services, scheduled to begin in 1998.
Headquartered in New York, NY, Viatel is a facilities-based international
and domestic long-distance telecommunications company with network points of
presence in 30 European cities, and operations in the United States, Latin
America and the Pacific Rim. The Company offers a broad array of
competitively priced, value-added international and domestic long-distance
services. Its customers are primarily small and medium-sized businesses.
Viatel provides long-distance service to more than 230 countries and
territories worldwide through its international network.
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters
discussed in this release are forward-looking statements that involve risks
and uncertainties, including the continued deregulation of the European Union
member states in which the Company does business, the timely roll out of
additional points of presence and other risks detailed from time to time in
the Company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
including those contained in the Company's Annual Reports on Form 10K for the
year ended December 31, 1996. As a result, actual results, events or
conditions, financial or otherwise, could differ materially from those
statements. Viatel undertakes no duty to update such forward-looking
statements.
SOURCE Viatel, Inc.
-0- 12/15/97
/CONTACT: Allan L. Shaw, Chief Financial Officer of Viatel, 212-350-9200,
or allan_shaw@viatel.com; or Lee Feldman of Peters & Feldman, 203-854-6761, or
leefeld@ix.netcom.com/ |
