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2002

THUS liberalises UK market for discount telephony services
and paves way for 'Virtual Telcos'

THUS plc, one of the UK's leading providers of voice, data, Internet and contact centre services, today announced that it has won an extension to its multi-million pound contract with virtual telecom operator Broadsystem Ventures Limited (BVL). BVL is the wholly owned subsidiary of News International plc that runs Sky Talk, Sky Digital's discount telephony offering and other residential telephony such as SunDial and 1602. The enhanced agreement will see BVL become the first virtual telecom operator in the UK to roll out a discount telephony service using THUS's recently launched Carrier Pre-Select (CPS) call routing technology.

The new service, Sky Talk Select, will allow Sky digital subscribers to benefit from discounts (compared to BT Standard rates) of up to 62% on UK calls, 83% on international calls and 5% on calls to UK mobiles without having to dial a prefix before they make a call. The savings are achieved by routing call minutes generated by the service over THUS's technologically advanced fire optic network.

As part of its broadened agreement with BVL, THUS will continue to carry all call minutes generated by BVL's existing Sky Talk services. THUS also provides BVL with tailored IVR and contact centre services to support Sky Talk Select.

Sky digital customers who subscribe to Sky Talk Select, get to keep their existing phone number, pay no additional monthly fees or connection charges and do not need an engineer visit or extra equipment. Calls are billed as part of the customer's monthly Sky Digital bill.

Bill Allan, Chief Executive, THUS, said, "The indirect access market, which includes residential and business telephony services, currently accounts for 26% of call minutes generated in the UK *. We expect carrier pre-select services to grow this market significantly. We are delighted to help BVL take advantage of the exciting opportunity carrier pre-select presents in the residential area."

Vijay Sodiwala, Managing Director of BVL said: "THUS's innovative carrier pre-select service is the next logical step in our strategy for developing the Sky Talk service. We operate in a highly competitive market but this cannot compromise the quality of service we deliver to our customers. THUS is an experienced, proven service provider and its state-of-the-art fibre infrastructure continues to provide excellent support for BVL's operation of the Skytalk service."

* (2002/3 source: Datamonitor)