ARTICLE ON DGIV FROM INTERNET WEEK, 4 MAY 1998 (from Genniusstock)
HEADLINE:
Low-Profile IP Telephony Carrier Seeks Nasdaq Listing
Digitcom's Penny Stock Has Increased Seven-Fold Over One Month
BODY:
International arbitrage, the Internet telephony opportunity that
companies from IDT [IDTC] to ITXC and Delta 3 are riding, is
propelling companies willing to go out and invest in international
termination infrastructure into the spotlight of individual and
institutional investors.
A very high profile industry, it exists in the fringe between
highly regulated telco space and virtually unregulated ISP space,
offering the chance for new players, like Digitcom [DGIV], to take
advantage of the best of two worlds.
It seems like the time for the services of this Santa Monica,
Calif.-based Internet Telephony Service Provider (ITSP) has finally
come, with the company's stock skyrocketing from $1-13/16 on March 30
1998 to $7-3/32 on April 30 1998, almost a seven-fold increase.
The company is not terminating any traffic yet, but already has
its first contract from Louis International Telecommunications and
Equipment to provide long distance circuits and termination in the
U.S. for the traffic originating in Europe.
Louis must start delivering to Digitcom $1 million or more worth
of telephone traffic per month by mid June.
Digitcom will likely use a combination of traditional lease line
connectivity and IP telephony to deliver and terminate this traffic.
"Depending on where this traffic originates and terminates, we
will start putting POPs in place in various countries," says Roger
Templeton, Digitcom's VP for communications.
To put POPs in place, Digitcom will partner with either ISPs or
small competitive telcos, here and overseas. Companies that Digitcom
is looking to buy or partner with range from traditional telcos to
ISPs, anybody capable of accommodating Internet telephony equipment
and terminating real minutes.
Equipment going into the customers' premises will likely be one
of Digitcom's products, NetCall. Some of the other products marketed
by Digitcom include Faxport, VOXport and Mobile Callback.
Two of these contracts are already in place.
Digitcom became the first Internet telephony provider to start
offering services in Russia, having been certified by the Central
Science Research Telecommunication Institute to provide the service
and striking deals with two regional telcos, St. Petersburg Telephone
and Rostov Electrosvyaz.
The company also acquired an Indonesian ISP, Primedia ArmoEkadata
Internet, for an undisclosed amount in a stock swap.
The company is also negotiating deals in Korea, China, Hong Kong
and Japan and recently secured a deal in Australia.
"We are looking in the regions where the margins are the
highest," says Templeton.
The arbitrage opportunity that Digitcom is pursuing doesn't
necessarily mean the company will be in dire competition with
incumbent telcos.
"Although many of these companies don't advertise it, they
sometimes terminate traffic for some of the largest telcos as a
private label provider," says Francois de Repentigny, an analyst with
Frost & Sullivan.
Indeed, Templeon says Digitcom's goal is to market its brand
directly to end customers. The company expects to provide private
label services to telcos, too.
Digitcom's Background
Digitcom comes into IP telephony from a video conferencing
background.
"This market didn't take off nearly as quickly as it was
expected," says Templeton.
In fact, the company has changed its name to Digitcom from
Digitcom Interactive Video Network.
The company was able to work out a deal with Dharma Group Corp.
for a $60 million investment, staged over several years. This should
help Digitcom's efforts to move up in the stock exchange world.
The company has been meeting with Nasdaq seeking to move from OTC
board where it's traded now to Nasdaq exchange. To do that, it has to
meet a number of requirements, two main ones being that it needs to
trade over $4 on the ask for 30 consecutive days, and that it has to
have either $4 million in tangible assets, or $50 million
capitalization.
The company also launched a stock repurchase program in mid-
February, committing to repurchase up to 12 percent of its outstanding
common stock, 1,500,000 shares. (Roger Templeton, Digitcom, 310/584-
0750, Francois de Repentigny, Frost & Sullivan, 650/237-4543)
Digitcom In Profile
Management
Wan Ying Chin, Chairman, Secretary
Jimmy Chin, President, CEO
Dan Woods, VP
Stock exchange
OTC Bulletin Board, U.S.
Address
2190 A Colorado Ave.
Santa Monica, CA 90404
Telephone 310/584-0750
Web site www.digitcom.com;
Strategic goal
Introduce Internet-based long distance service in the regions
with the highest demand for competitive rates |
