Released: 27/03/2006
RNS Number:4082A
Spiritel PLC
27 March 2006
For immediate release 27 March 2006
SPIRITEL PLC
("Spiritel" or "the Company")
My Phone joint venture signs first contract for UK-to-India VoIP service
Spiritel plc (AIM: STP), the telecommunications services business, is pleased to
announce that its recently formed My Phone joint venture has signed its first
contract. The My Phone service is a low-cost VoIP-based solution for people in
the UK to make unlimited phone calls to their families and friends in India. It
is among the first services of its kind to provide an unlimited call tariff to
India.
The initial contract has been signed with India-based Edwise International, a
leading organisation that places Indian students in universities and other
educational establishments in the UK and worldwide.
My Phone, in which Spiritel holds a 50 per cent stake, is based on Spiritel's
VoIP product suite and highlights the way that VoIP is revolutionising call
costs for international and national call traffic. It also underlines Spiritel's
position at the forefront of monetising VoIP telephony through the creation of
innovative, niche product lines.
For a fee of just £13 per month, plus an up-front installation fee, UK-based
Indians can phone their families in India from almost any UK phone on an
unlimited basis. The service requires the installation of a low-priced IP phone
in the Indian family home, which is allocated an 0207 number. My Phone's
in-country partner has the ability to install IP phones almost anywhere in
India, where broadband internet access is growing significantly.
My Phone is a highly competitive alternative to calling cards, currently a
widely used method for low cost international calls and under which a typical
rate from the UK to India is 8p per minute.
Edwise International, which was founded in 1991, specialises in assisting Indian
students to find places in universities in the UK and elsewhere. It will promote
the My Phone service to all students it places in the UK.
Spiritel is in discussions with a number of additional resellers in connection
with the My Phone service and intends to formally launch the service next month.
Alastair Mills, Spiritel's Chief Executive, commented: "I am very excited by the
My Phone joint venture, which is among the first to provide an unlimited call
tariff to India and which has the potential to revolutionise the way that people
in the UK phone their families and friends in India. I am delighted that our
first My Phone agreement is with Edwise International, whose students placed in
the UK exemplify the potential customer base of the My Phone service."
ENDS
For further information:
Spiritel plc 020 7160 0100
Alastair Mills, Chief Executive
Teather & Greenwood 020 7426 9000
Jeff Keating
Buchanan Communications 020 7466 5000
Mark Court
Mary-Jane Johnson
Notes for Editors:
About Spiritel plc
Spiritel (AIM: STP) is the holding company for a growing group of companies
whose focus is telecommunications services and products. Spiritel, through its
Spiritel Technologies division, has developed a suite of leading-edge VoIP
products, positioning the Company to benefit from the migration from traditional
telephony to VoIP services. Spiritel Technologies' route to market is via
reseller partners. Spiritel's initial trading division, Expo Communications, was
founded in 2000 and is one of Europe's leading call termination businesses
focussing on calls from fixed lines to mobiles. Expo's client base includes
Telewest, Level (3), One.Tel and Your Communications among others. Spiritel
Technologies' VoIP products are highly complementary to Expo's termination
services as most phone calls made via VoIP require termination in the same way
as calls from traditional fixed line phones.
Spiritel joined the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in July 2004.
For further information please visit www.spiritelplc.com
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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