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To: J Fieb who wrote (36051)	9/18/1998 4:05:00 PM
From: John Rieman	Respond to of 50808

It's good news J. Internet TV push starts in 1999.................. mediacentral.com 09-16-98 18:45 EDT Headlines ECI Telecom eyes Internet, Hi-TV push in 1999 NEW YORK, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Israeli-based ECI Telecom Ltd. , which recently announced a merger with Tadiran Telecommunications Ltd. , plans to make the Internet and its digital delivery system Hi-TV its top priorities in 1999, a company official said on Wednesday. Speaking at an Israeli telecommunications industry briefing here sponsored by the Israeli government's Economic Mission to North America, Leo Hinkley, ECI's director of investor relations, said the company's "goal is to be a specialist in everything over the Internet ... We hope to offer total quality over the Internet and offer every possible service over the Internet." He said the company has made a major push into Internet research and development and noted ECI has made alliances with firms that allow voice communications over the Internet, such as VocalTec Ltd. . After much speculation this summer, ECI and Tadiran last week announced plans to merge in a stock swap. The new firm will be called ECI Telecom. Hinkley said the merger should be completed within a couple of months and anticipates the transition "to be as painless as possible." He said that since product overlap is small, "we are anticipating absolutely no layoffs as a result of the merger." ECI currently has dealings with telecommunications companies, including British Telecommunciations Plc and Deutsche Telekom AG , in more than 140 countries and Hinkley said that number will grow. The merger will add Canada, Ireland, South America and parts of Africa. Hinkley also said ECI will continue to focus on Hi-TV, a new product, which allows digital broadcast of sports, concerts and other events over regular telephone lines. Hi-TV is presently in the testing stages. "We should start generating revenues (from Hi-TV) in 1999," he said. Meanwhile, he said that the global financial crisis was not significanly hurting ECI. At the end of 1997, revenues from Asia represented 17 percent of the company's total revenues, slipping to 16.7 percent at the end of the second quarter. He noted that ECI's two major Asian client areas, China and the Philippines, have not suffered as much as other Asian countries. As for troubles in Russia, Hinkley said all of ECI's business there was insured. More than 95 percent of ECI's revenues come from outside Israel.