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To: Anthony who wrote (21362)	1/15/1999 12:41:00 PM
From: Valueman	Respond to of 152472

Friday January 15, 11:57 am Eastern Time Company Press Release Consortium Formed by New Denver Company Wins Brazil Telecom Mirror License DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 15, 1999--WLL International Inc. today announced that a consortium it formed, and in which it owns a 34.4% interest, has won the operating license to provide fixed telephone services in the northeast region of Brazil (the ''Mirror License''), an area with approximately 90 million inhabitants. WLL, together with its partners Bell Canada International Inc. (Nasdaq:BCICF - news; 34.4%), Qualcomm Inc. (Nasdaq:QCOM - news; 16.2%), SLI Wireless S.A. (12.5%) and Taquari Participaoes S.A. (2.5%) formed Canbra Telefonica S.A (''Canbra'') to participate in the Brazilian ''Mirror Auctions.'' Canbra, along with Tele Norte Leste, a regional Telebras operating company, will be the two exclusive providers of fixed telephony services in the northeast region of Brazil through at least December 2001. Canbra expects to invest more than U.S. $ 1 billion in deploying state-of-the-art fixed wireless and wireline telecommunications networks in its region to effectively compete against Tele Norte Leste. In July 1998, Brazil completed Latin America's largest ever privatization through the breakup of Telebras, Brazil's former state telephone monopoly, into regional operating companies. As part of its privatization plans, Brazil's telecommunications regulatory authority, ANATEL, is auctioning mirror licenses in an effort to create competition for the regional Telebras operating companies. Canbra's concession spans a geographic area roughly equal in size to three-quarters of the continental U.S. It is comprised of 16 states and includes major metropolitan markets such as Rio de Janeiro (Latin America's fourth largest city), Belo Horizonte, Salvador, Fortaleza, Recife and Manaus. WLL believes that Brazil offers one of the most attractive telecommunications growth opportunities in the world, as evidenced by telephone penetration in Canbra's region of less than 10 lines per 100 inhabitants and a current demand backlog exceeding four million lines. WLL was formed in June 1998 to become a leading provider of fixed telephony and data services in Latin America. Current equity sponsors of WLL include Telecom Partners, Centennial Funds and Crescendo Ventures. The management team is led by Fred Vierra, chairman, David J. Leonard, chief executive officer, and Nicolas Kauser, chief technology officer. Mr. Vierra previously served as the chief executive officer of Tele-Communications International Inc. Mr. Leonard was previously president and chief executive officer of UIH Latin America, a wholly owned subsidiary of United International Holdings Inc., a leading provider of video, voice and data services in international markets. Mr. Kauser was previously executive vice president, chief technology officer at AT&T Wireless Services Inc. responsible for all aspects of engineering and technology projects, network operations and long range planning and evolution of the network and the supporting technologies. Commenting on the Brazil license award, Mr. Leonard said, ''The ability to deploy efficient, state-of-the-art telecommunications networks in a favorable regulatory climate at a relative low cost of entry makes this Brazil Mirror License one of the most unique and attractive telecom growth opportunities in the world today. We at WLL are extremely excited about the potential of our initial investment and look forward to working with such a strong and dynamic group of partners.'' Concerning the recent Brazilian currency devaluation, Mr. Leonard commented, ''We continue to believe in the economic fundamentals of Brazil and are committed to becoming a leading telecom provider in Brazil.'' -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contact: WLL International David J. Leonard President & CEO 303-874-1120 or WLL International Gregory P. Sadler Senior Vice President of Finance 303-874-1132 gps@willi.com or Metzger Associates John Metzger 303-786-7000 john@metzger.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- More Quotes and News: Bell Canada International Inc (Nasdaq:BCICF - news) Qualcomm Inc (Nasdaq:QCOM - news) Related News Categories: computers, telecom