EuroTel Finishes 1999 with 1,070,000 Customers

PRAGUE, the Czech Republic — Czech mobile service provider EuroTel Praha today announced that in December it set another Czech record by adding 120,000 customers in a single month, ending 1999 with 1,070,000 customers.

"We estimate that there will be well above three million mobile phone users in the Czech Republic at the end of the year 2000," said EuroTel CEO Ed Kingman. "EuroTel's past year's results, superior network and customer care levels, and innovative services such as the country's only Internet access using Wireless Application Protocol, will help EuroTel maintain its leadership position in the market."

Mobile phones for EuroTel's networks were available in 55 company-owned stores, as well as 6,335 affiliated stores and stands, during the Christmas shopping period. In addition, phones were sold directly to households by more than 19,000 sales representatives of partner companies.

"We try to be as close to our customers as possible," said Kingman.

EuroTel customers rang in the New Year in record numbers, making 522,000 calls -- representing about one half the company's subscribers -- during the first 15 minutes of the new millennium.

"We once again proved EuroTel can deliver the kind of quality and capacity our customers demand as we successfully handled 1,500% more calls than a normal, full busy hour," said Kingman.

EuroTel Praha Ltd is the Czech Republic's largest wireless service provider with more than 1,070,000 customers. EuroTel's high quality GSM and T!P mobile phone networks cover a territory with 99 percent of the Czech Republic's 10 million people.

EuroTel Praha is a joint venture of SPT Telecom Inc. (51%) and Atlantic West B.V. (49%). Atlantic West B.V. is equally owned by Bell Atlantic (NYSE:BEL) and MediaOne International, which is a part of MediaOne Group (NYSE:UMG).

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