CONTACTS: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA INVESTORS
Sheila S. Blackwell Kerry Watterson
Voice: 703.762.5540 Voice: 703.762.5458
Pager: 888.687.9528 Pager: 877.828.0687
[email protected] [email protected]
TELIGENT ACQUIRES ECI, ENHANCING
NEXT GENERATION COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES
LEADING PROVIDER OF VOICE, WEB CONFERENCING ACCELERATES
GROWTH OF E-BUSINESS SERVICES
Vienna, VA., October 3, 2000 - Teligent, a global leader in broadband
communications, today announced it has acquired Executive Conference Inc., a
teleconferencing service provider with next generation capabilities,
headquartered in Wayne, New Jersey. The stock and cash transaction is valued at
$74 million with an additional earnout payment based on ECI's future
performance. The acquisition provides Teligent with market-tested expertise and
experience to help expand its menu of online communications services.
By enhancing its portfolio of broadband communications services with ECI's
conferencing capabilities, Teligent will offer its customers a wider variety of
Web-based services, including online audio and video conferencing as well as
real-time information sharing. Teligent intends to offer these new services to
new and existing customers through Teligent's nationwide sales network. ECI's
platform will also enable Teligent to augment its voice-over-Web capabilities
and develop other cost-effective, Web-based applications required by business
customers.
"ECI is an ideal fit for Teligent," said Teligent Senior Vice President for
Field Operations Bruce Wagner. "ECI distinguishes itself in the conferencing
industry by offering customers superior service and tremendous savings. We're
looking forward to leveraging ECI products and services to build an even
stronger portfolio of Teligent e-business communications services.
"ECI is a nationwide leader in high-quality, competitively priced
teleconferencing services. In the last four years, ECI revenues have grown more
than 35 percent annually with profit margins consistently exceeding 25 percent.
ECI's products include operator assisted, automated, reservation-less, event
reservation-less,event calling, audio streaming and Web collaboration
conferencing services. ECI's product line offers the "next generation" of audio
teleconferencing services.
The company's 180 employees serve more than 5,000 customers nationwide,
including many Fortune(R) 1,000 customers.
ECI co-founder Graham Sampson will become a Teligent Vice President. "We view
our new relationship with Teligent as an exciting opportunity to work with a
company that is demonstrating real leadership in the fast-growing sector of
e-business solutions," Sampson said.
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Web-based business conferencing, now in its infancy, has strong growth potential
in the online business communications arena. In a recent survey, by research
firm Socratic Technologies, of business travelers with Internet access, 75
percent of respondents reported e-mailing presentations to meeting participants
and 30 percent reported joining Web-based conferences. Web-based conferencing
enables business associates in separate locations to view video and
simultaneously view and edit documents online.
"Online services is a huge opportunity and fast becoming a requirement of
businesses, both large and small," added Wagner. "That's why Teligent intends to
deliver online services that enhance our business customers communications
productivity and ECI is one of many steps we're taking to do just that."
International Data Corporation (IDC), the world's leading provider of technology
intelligence, industry analysis and market data, projects the global market for
multimedia two-way Web-based communications services to reach $19.2 billion by
2003 -- up from just $2.1 billion in 1999.
Teligent offers businesses a flat monthly bill for local services with savings
of up to 30 percent off the rates they pay their local phone providers. To
qualify for the maximum discount, customers switch their existing local service
and sign up with Teligent for a minimum of one year. Teligent averages
representative bills from the customer's current carrier and deducts up to 30
percent to arrive at the customer's new flat monthly rate.
Teligent offers long distance service at a single, per-minute price. When
customers use Teligent for their local service, Teligent deducts up to an
additional 30 percent off Teligent's already low per-minute long distance price.
Prices for long distance calls within a state may vary in some states.
Teligent also offers a high-speed data service for cost-conscious customers
called SmartWave DSL(TM). Using advanced digital subscriber line (DSL)
electronics to enhance the copper circuits inside customer buildings, Teligent's
new service enables businesses to take advantage of high-speed Internet access
at prices starting at $159 a month.
TELIGENT SERVICE FEATURES E.MAGINESM, an interactive, Web-based business
management tool that enables customers to access their billing and account
information anytime they choose. Many of the benefits that Teligent offers its
customers - simplicity, service, savings and speed - are the direct result of
its digital SmartWave(TM) technology.
ABOUT TELIGENT'S BROADBAND NETWORKS
Teligent's local communications networks represent the integration of the latest
advances in high-frequency microwave technology with traditional broadband
wireline equipment. Together these technologies enable Teligent to increase its
local network efficiency and significantly lower network costs.
Teligent delivers fixed wireless services by installing small antennas on the
roofs of customer buildings. When a customer makes a telephone call or accesses
the Internet, the voice, data or video signals travel over the building's
internal wiring to the rooftop antenna. These signals are then digitized and
transmitted to a "base station" antenna on another building, usually less than
three miles away.
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Each base station antenna gathers signals from a cluster of surrounding customer
buildings, aggregates the signals and then routes them to a broadband switching
center. At the switching center, ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) switches and
data routers distribute the traffic to other networks, such as public
circuit-switched voice networks, packet-switched Internet and private data
networks.
ABOUT TELIGENT
Based in Vienna, Virginia, Teligent, Inc. (NASDAQ: TGNT) is a global leader in
broadband communications offering business customers local, long distance,
high-speed data and dedicated Internet services over its digital SmartWave(TM)
local networks in major markets throughout the United States. The company is
working with international partners to extend its reach into Europe, Asia and
Latin America. Teligent's offerings of regulated services are subject to all
applicable regulatory and tariff approvals.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT THE TELIGENT WEBSITE AT: WWW.TELIGENT.COM
TELIGENT AND SMARTWAVE ARE THE EXCLUSIVE TRADEMARKS OF TELIGENT, INC.
EXCEPT FOR ANY HISTORICAL INFORMATION, THE MATTERS DISCUSSED IN THIS PRESS
RELEASE CONTAIN FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS THAT REFLECT THE COMPANY'S CURRENT
VIEWS REGARDING FUTURE EVENTS. THESE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS INVOLVE RISKS
AND UNCERTAINTIES THAT COULD AFFECT THE COMPANY'S GROWTH, OPERATIONS, MARKETS,
PRODUCTS AND SERVICES. THE COMPANY CANNOT BE SURE THAT ANY OF ITS EXPECTATIONS
WILL BE REALIZED. FACTORS THAT MAY CAUSE ACTUAL RESULTS, PERFORMANCE OR
ACHIEVEMENT TO DIFFER MATERIALLY FROM THOSE CONTEMPLATED BY ITS FORWARD LOOKING
STATEMENTS INCLUDE, WITHOUT LIMITATION: 1) THE COMPANY'S PACE OF ENTRY INTO NEW
MARKETS; 2) THE TIME AND EXPENSE REQUIRED TO BUILD THE COMPANY'S PLANNED NETWORK
AND ISP INFRASTRUCTURE; 3) THE IMPACT OF CHANGES IN TELECOMMUNICATIONS LAWS AND
REGULATIONS; 4) GENERAL ECONOMIC AND COMPETITIVE CONDITIONS; 5) TECHNOLOGICAL
DEVELOPMENTS; AND 6) OTHER FACTORS DISCUSSED IN THE COMPANY'S FILINGS WITH THE
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION.
