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To: MikeM54321 who wrote (10827)	4/2/2001 10:00:39 AM
From: elmatador	Respond to of 12823

Elmatador on government Message 15574326

To: MikeM54321 who wrote (10827)	4/3/2001 2:50:40 AM
From: elmatador	Respond to of 12823

German alternative operators run out of options By Ouida Taaffe, Total Telecom 02 April 2001 German alternative operator TelDaFax announced Monday that it has filed for bankruptcy because of its impending disconnection by Deutsche Telekom for non-payment of bills. Callino Deutschland has also announced bankruptcy proceedings. This is because its U.S. parent, Formus Communications, of Denver, stopped all payments to its European subsidiaries mid-March. It had originally been announced that Formus would continue to support Callino Deutschland. According to reports in the German press, TelDaFax is not alone in owing DT money. The weekly magazine, Der Spiegel, claims that a number of call-by-call providers have failed to meet their obligations. DT is said to be waiting for payments of around DM500 million. Apparently, more than half of the outstanding bills have reached the second warning stage. Callino Germany, which is a WLL broadband access provider, filed for bankruptcy on Friday 30 March. The reason it gave was the "completely unexpected withdrawal of the American parent, Formus Communications, from the European market." Callino states that its business is developing "positively" and that it is in talks with new partners and strategic investors "in order to put the business on a solid financial footing." The chairman, Andreas Heck, stated: "We are confident that we will be able to present a new concept for the future of Callino soon." Callino continues to provide services to its customers. TelDaFax could not be reached for comment Monday. It withdrew its stock from trading on Friday. In a press release, the company stated that its new owner, World Access of Atlanta, was in talks with DT to prevent the company's disconnection. TelDaFax is, by its own admission, suffering from the intense competition in the German re-sale market - and, presumably, from the huge price cuts that DT has made in its own charges since TelDaFax was founded. In the first three quarters of 2000, TelDaFax had a negative EBITDA of minus DM15.9 million. The EBITDA for the same period in 1999 had been DM47.2 million. In 1999, TelDaFax made a net loss of DM5.5 million in 1999. The company had reported a net profit of DM8.8 million in 1998 (according to U.S. GAAP rules). Deutsche Telekom stated that in the past it has "had to disconnect companies that, after several warnings and discussions could not meet their obligations."