NEWCALL completes IproLink purchase

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEWCALL completes IproLink purchase

AUCKLAND, 21 January 2000 - NEWCALL Group Ltd today announced that it had exercised its option to purchase 100% of the Auckland Internet service provider IproLink.

The acquisition, at a price of $3.6 million, has been funded half by NEWCALL shares and half in cash. There is an agreement between the parties limiting the sale of the shares for at least six months.

NEWCALL in November announced it had entered into the option agreement as a way of becoming a fully web-enabled teleco company and one of only three in the country to offer the complete range of telecommunications solutions, including Internet, mobile, tolls, calling cards and e-commerce.

NEWCALL managing director Norman Nicholls said the two companies were well suited because they had remarkably similar customer bases.

“IproLink has a customer base of niche small to medium size businesses throughout New Zealand. This will allow NEWCALL to extend its own product range and existing NEWCALL customers will also benefit from the extended services that will be available to them. “

Company Background
NEWCALL Group Ltd is the newly listed parent company of NEWCALL Communications Ltd. Other companies in the group include NEWCALL Communications U.S.A., Inc., NEWCALL Communications Pty Ltd (Australia), and NEWCALL Communications International Ltd, which is based in Singapore.

A New Zealand registered Alternate Service Provider, NEWCALL Communications Ltd is one of the country’s fastest growing ‘new generation’ telecommunications companies. Officially launched in June 1998, NEWCALL carries both national and international telecommunications traffic.

Focusing primarily on small to medium-sized organisations, the company specialises in providing high quality cost-effective telecommunications services, including national and international tolls and faxes, land to mobile services and Internet access. State-of-the-art billing and management applications allow NEWCALL to simplify telecommunications for the end-user, while maintaining an innovative, price competitive service.

NEWCALL Communications Ltd is currently installing strategically placed switching nodes throughout New Zealand to facilitate leading edge telecommunications solutions. Delivered through a combination of networks which include Telecom New Zealand and other network providers, NEWCALL’s services are supported by a non-coded access agreement offering transparent access to the user. International services are facilitated through wholesale relationships with a range of international carriers.

NEWCALL’s senior management team is led by Managing Director Norman Nicholls, one of the most experienced senior executives in the telecommunications industry today. The company’s principal shareholder is CTW Beta Co Ltd, a subsidiary of Asia Pacific Wire and Cable Corporation, a US company which is traded on the NASDAQ Exchange.

More information on NEWCALL Communications Ltd is available on the Web at http://www.newcall.co.nz
END
For further information, please call:
Guy Pierce, Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary,
NEWCALL Communications Ltd,
Ph: 09 366-1199, 021 343-301
Michael Bartrom,
Botica Conroy & Associates, Ph: 09 303-3862, 021 403 503

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