FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Newcall Group Ltd
NEWCALL Backed By Taiwanese Telco Giant In Asian Telecommunications Expansion
Pacific Electric Wire & Cable Becomes Institutional Investor and Strategic Partner
AUCKLAND, 27 April, 2000 - NEWCALL Group Ltd (NZSE: NGL) today announced that Pacific Den-Den Investment Limited, the
investment arm of Pacific Electric Wire & Cable Company Limited, has taken a placement of 10 million NEWCALL shares from Charoong Thai Wire & Cable Public Company Limited, the parent company of NEWCALL, at a price of NZ$0.50 per share.
Pacific Electric Wire & Cable (“Pacific”) is a Taiwan based conglomerate with interests in cable manufacturing, retailing, banking,
construction and telecommunications that span Asia and North America. Pacific is also the majority shareholder in
Charoong Thai Wire & Cable.
“Pacific has made a strategic decision to utilise NEWCALL as the vehicle to expand its telecommunications operations
into Asia as each market becomes deregulated,” explains NEWCALL’s Managing Director, Norman Nicholls.
The first of the planned expansions occurred earlier this month in Singapore after that country’s government deregulated
the market from April 1, 2000. NEWCALL Communications Singapore Pte Ltd has been established and granted a license to
provide telecommunication services in the city-state. The first NEWCALL service to be provided, a prepaid calling card,
will be launched in early May.
Pacific’s telecommunications operations include interests in Taiwan Cellular, one of the largest mobile phone operators
in the world with more than 3.5 million customers. In addition, Pacific was awarded one of three licenses to build and
operate a fixed telephone line network in Taiwan, an investment valued at more than US$3.3 billion. Pacific is also part
of a consortium that has been awarded a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) concession to establish a high-speed rail
transport system throughout Taiwan. This development will include a fiber optic network to provide multimedia services
to businesses and consumers. With construction beginning this year, the project is the first BOT project ever awarded by
the Taiwanese Government and is valued at US$9 billion.
Company Background
NEWCALL Group Ltd is the listed parent company of NEWCALL Communications Ltd, Iprolink NZ Ltd, and Energy Options
Limited (EOL), which are all located in New Zealand. A recent addition to the Group is the retail telecommunications
operation in the newly deregulated Singapore market, NEWCALL Communications Singapore PTE Ltd.
Other companies in the group include NEWCALL Communications U.S.A., Inc., NEWCALL Communications Pty Ltd (Australia),
and the international wholesale arm, also based in Singapore, NEWCALL Communications International Ltd.
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
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For further information, please call:
Guy Pierce, Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary, NEWCALL Communications Ltd, Ph: 09 366-1199, 021 343-301
Nicholas O’Flaherty, Senior Account Manager, Botica Conroy & Associates, Ph: 09 303-3862, 021 403 505