/24-7PressRelease/ - LOS ANGELES, CA, November, 16, 2005 - NASDAQ OTCBB: TLPE) (http://www.teleplus.ca) is pleased to announce its results for the 3rd quarter and YTD 2005. TelePlus Enterprises, Inc. ("TelePlus") is a provider of Wireless and Telecom products and services across North America. TelePlus Connect, Corp. - is a reseller of a variety of Telecom services including landline, long distance and internet services. TelePlus Wireless, Corp. - operates a virtual wireless network selling cellular network access to distributors in the United States. TelePlus Retail Services, Inc. - owns and operates a national chain of TelePlus branded stores in major shopping malls, selling a comprehensive line of wireless and portable communication devices.
TelePlus delivers high consumer confidence and exceptional customer service, which is evidenced by winning 4 consecutive times the Canadian "Consumer's Choice Award" for best wireless retail business - 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005.
Currently there is a good fit between the Company's resources and the opportunities and threats posed by its external environment. The Company has a diversified product mix that is complemented with unique accessory offerings. The Company has prominently displayed, attractive, strategically located retail outlets, experienced employees and management and strong supplier relations. The Company believes that growth will come in three folds.
TelePlus' Subsidiaries:
The Company through its wholly owned subsidiary TelePlus Retail Services, Inc. currently operates 39 TelePlus branded stores in three Canadian provinces. The Company intends to increase to 70 the number of TelePlus branded stores by 2007. These stores are expected to be located in major metro centers. The Company completed in 2004 acquisition of two companies: SMARTCELL and CELLZ.
The Company through its wholly owned subsidiary TelePlus Connect, Corp. is planning to offer landline and long distance prepaid services to selected individuals in Canada who cannot obtain basic telecom services from traditional telecom carriers. These individuals are often called the unbanked. Current estimates place the unbanked market in North America at 9.5% of total households and the market size is estimated at over $1 billion.
To facilitate the rollout of this service the Company has acquired 100% of the shares of Keda Consulting Corp. and Freedom Phones Lines in a transaction completed April 1st 2005. The Company also acquired Telizon on January 26th 2005 and anticipates closing this transaction within 150 days subject to the availability of financing.
Keda Consulting Corp. provides a broad range of management consulting services to the North American telecommunications industry, specializing in business development, sales/marketing, and operations. Once the acquisition of Keda is completed, it will change its name to TelePlus Connect Corp. and Keda's management will take over the operations of TelePlus' prepaid landline and long distance telephone service operations. The Company is expected to benefit from Keda's and Freedom's management teams, which have much experience in the telecommunications industry. The Company believes a seasoned and experienced management team, familiar with all aspects of the rapidly growing and changing telecommunications business, is a key strategic asset.
Freedom Phone Lines, headquartered in Ontario, Canada, is a Bell Canada reseller of landline and long distance services, which services over 3,300 customers in the Ontario area and generates yearly revenues of $2.5 million and EBITDA of $0.300 million.
In January 2005, the Company entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Telizon, Inc., subject to the Company receiving financing for the deal. The terms of the acquisition call for the Company to pay $7.2 million in cash no later than 150 days from January 26, 2005. Telizon is a reseller of landline/long distance services and also an Internet service provider. Telizon has annual revenues of $12.0 million and EBITDA of $1.6 million. Management anticipates that the deal, if successfully completed, will accelerate the Company's business plan by 18 months, resulting in revenue run rate of $30 million and EBITDA of over $1 million, as well as synergies with other Teleplus operations.
TelePlus intends to deploy a private label wireless program under the "TelePlus" brand name in the US. TelePlus Wireless Corp. offering private label wireless services is commonly referred to as creating a Mobile Virtual Network Operator ("MVNO"). This market was developed first in Europe, where more than 20 MVNO's can be found. Virgin Mobile of England and Wireless Maingate of Sweden were among the first group of MVNO's launched in Europe. TelePlus intends to make its phone available at superstores and vending machines throughout the US.
The Market
CANADIAN WIRELESS INDUSTRY:
According to industry data, by the end of 2005, more than half of all Canadians will be mobile phone customers. Canadians currently use more than 12 million wireless phones on a daily basis. According to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, the wireless industry is a key driver of the Canadian Telecommunications sector, consistently posting double-digit sales gains; recently increasing 13% to over $8 billion. The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association estimates that in 2004 there were over 13.6 million wireless subscribers, including 10.4 million postpaid and 3.2 million prepaid.
In Canada, consolidation amongst wireless carriers has been a trend. Recently, Rogers Wireless announced deals with ATandT Wireless and Microcell that has positioned it as the largest carrier of wireless services in Canada, with about 37% market share or 5.298 million subscribers. Other major carriers, in market share order, include Bell Mobility, a unit of BCE (NYSE: BCE), with a 33% market share and TELUS Mobility with a 26% market share.
AMERICAN WIRELESS INDUSTRY
The vastness and fast growing nature of the American wireless industry is illustrated by the following statistics: In a January 2005 Business Week article, Gartner estimated that 2005 wireless revenues will grow 11% to $122.5 billion;
* • Euro monitor, in a July 2003 report, estimated that in 2003 the retail post-paid wireless industry totaled $3.8 billion, and is expected to reach $5.1 billion by 2007. Atlantic-ACM estimated in February 2003, that the pre-paid retail wireless industry will grow from $4.4 billion in 2003 to $9.5 billion in 2007;
* • According to J.D. Power, 59% of the U.S. households have a wireless phone connection. Industry analysts project that penetration rates will reach 60% to 70% by 2005;
* • The Yankee Group stated in an August 2004 report that 50% of 13 to 17 year olds have a wireless phone, a sizable increase from a 2003 survey in which 33% of teens were reported to have a wireless phone. Increased penetration of this segment of the population has been driven by an increase in marketing of family plans;
* • The Yankee Group also projected that by the end of 2006, there will be over 200 million wireless phone subscribers;
* • The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) stated in a September 2004 report that 97% of the total domestic population live in an area in which at least three carriers offer wireless services;
* • The FCC also found that at the end of 2003 there were 160.6 million wireless subscribers, a 13.3% increase from the end of 2002. These subscribers used their service, on average, 500 minutes per month. Minute usage increased by 17.1% over the prior year driven by an increase in text messaging and more advanced headsets that were utilized for advanced and novel leisure and entertainment purposes; and
* • According to First Global Research, the domestic wireless market is adding 4 to 5 million net new subscribers each quarter.
The major wireless carriers in the United States in order of subscribers are Cingular (a joint venture of BellSouth Corp. and SBC Communications Inc.), Verizon Wireless (a unit of Verizon), Sprintpcs, TMobile (a unit of Deutsche Telekom), and Nextel. According to Bear Stearns and Baird, these operators at last count had over 138 million subscribers and last twelve months revenues of over $80 billion. The five major carriers have over 80% market share of the total wireless market in the United States of 172 million at the end of the third quarter of 2004.
Consolidation amongst carriers in the United States has also been an ongoing trend. In late 2004, Cingular finalized its combination with ATandT Wireless. More recently, Sprint and Nextel have stated their intention to combine. Consolidation is also apparent in the second tier as Western Wireless (NASDAQ: WWCA), a regional wireless carrier is in the midst of being acquired by Alltel (NYSE: AT), the sixth largest wireless carrier.
According to the AP, the FON/NXTL deal would fortify Sprint's position as the nation's third largest wireless service provider behind Cingular Wireless and Verizon Wireless and have 35 million wireless subscribers and $40 billion in annual revenue. The Alltel and Western Wireless deal would create a $10 billion Company with 9.8 million subscribers or about 6% of the wireless market in the United States.
According to Bloomberg, industry consolidation is occurring due to a more competitive business environment. Carriers are suffering from lower average price per minute and a lower rate of new subscribers being added to the overall subscriber base.
Recent Events:
TelePlus Enterprises announced that it has closed the acquisition of Avenue Reconnect, Inc. ("Avenue") announced in a release dated April 21st, 2005. As part of the transaction, Avenue will be rolled into TelePlus Connect Corp. ("TelePlus Connect") increasing that subsidiaries customer base by 2,000 bringing it to 5,300 users. The closing of this latest acquisition is the third this year. Keda Consulting and Freedom Phone Lines were closed April 1st. The Company has also entered into definitive agreements for the acquisition of Canada Reconnect and Telizon earlier this year. These two remaining acquisitions are expected to be closed within 120 days subject to the company obtaining necessary financing and completing its due diligence.
The Company's recently announced acquisitions are part of a plan to leap frog its original revenue and earnings objectives by 18 months. Assuming closure of all acquisitions the Company's revenue run rate is expected to increase to $37M while earnings (before taxes) are expected to increase by $3.2M. Avenue currently provides local, long distance and Internet prepaid services to over 2,000 residential users primarily in Ontario, Canada. The transaction calls for TelePlus to pay a cash consideration valued at $560k to the shareholders of Avenue in exchange for 100% of Avenue's shares.
Investment Considerations
* TelePlus has embarked on an accelerated growth path organically and through acquisitions expected to yield significant shareholder value. Such growth will come through the development of Company operated wireless stores and the implementation of the Company's Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) and landline telephony service.
* TelePlus is enjoying exceptional revenue growth: 240% annually over the past three years. Revenues are expected to reach US$128 million by 2008.
* TelePlus' seasoned and experienced management team is familiar with all aspects of the rapidly growing and changing cellular communications business.
* The wireless market is the fastest growing consumer segment in history.
* The prepaid US market is expected to reach US$32.1 billion by 2008 and the prepaid wireless sales are expected to represent the lion share of this market.
• TelePlus is well positioned to capture the growth of the US prepaid wireless market with its MVNO program.
TelePlus Enterprises, Inc. is a publicly trading company traded on the NASDAQ OTCBB under the symbol TLPE. TelePlus Enterprises is a provider of Wireless and Telecom products and services across North America. TelePlus Connect, Corp. - is a reseller of a variety of Telecom services including landline, long distance and internet services. TelePlus Wireless, Corp. - operates a virtual wireless network selling cellular network access to distributors in the United States. TelePlus Retail Services, Inc. - owns and operates a national chain of TelePlus branded stores in major shopping malls, selling a comprehensive line of wireless and portable communication devices.
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