TORONTO, /CNW/ — The total
long-distance traffic processed by Telehop Communications for the month ended October 31, 2004, showed a
14.5 per cent increase over the month of September 2004, and a 7.5 per cent
increase over Telehop’s previous best month in August, 2004.
Telehop’s total long-distance traffic for the month ended October 31, 2004, was 14.32 million minutes in 1.78 million calls, versus 12.5 million minutes in 1.63 million calls in September 2004. This represents an increase of 14.5 per cent in total minutes and 9.2 per cent in the total number of calls. This traffic also represents an increase of 7.5 per cent over the previous record 13.33 million minutes carried in August 2004, Telehop’s
previous best ever month.
This increase in total number of minutes is particularly gratifying as it
indicates that Telehop has been successful in attracting higher margin retail
traffic to replace the higher risk, lower margin, wholesale traffic which it
decided to de-emphasize in the Fall of 2003, as a matter of corporate policy.
The company demonstrates continued strength in its balance sheet. Its
operations continue to be financed entirely from operations, and Telehop
currently has a strong cash position and no outstanding bank or other debt.
Ruth Bartholomeusz, chief operating officer of Telehop, stated: «Telehop
is particularly pleased with the continuing improvement in our traffic volumes
which also reflect a successful change in our business focus over the past
year. In spite of our deliberately scaling back on our wholesale business,
these traffic numbers represent the highest ever monthly volumes for the
company.»
«We are continuing to focus on controlling our cost of delivering a call,
and are working diligently to expand the breadth of our service offerings to
our customers in the other provinces in Canada.»
About Telehop Communications Inc.
Telehop is a CRTC Licensed Class «A» Telecom Carrier, and one of the
largest alternative telecom providers to the residential & business market.
Telehop offers origination and termination services to other carriers
worldwide, including switchless resellers, and provides ’Equal Access’ Long
Distance and the branded «10–10–620» — ’Dial Around’ Service. It also provides
Flat Rate ’Hop’ calling in Southern Ontario and in the Metropolitan Montreal
area covering a population of approximately 8 million people, and provides
1–800 toll free numbers and Virtual Calling Cards, allowing calls from any
phone in North America to anywhere in the world. Telehop also offers the
branded «Broadtalk™» VOIP flat rate service to residential and small
business customers.
Shares Outstanding;- 12,437,000
Fully Diluted;- 13,521,500
More investor information on Telehop (HOP-TSX Venture) may be obtained at
[ >>>
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sign)EN&issuerNo=00004365 or by calling Patrick V. Farrell at
(416) 494 4490 ext 399, or 1–866–530 7988 or e-mail pfarrell@telehop.com
%SEDAR: 00004365E
TELEHOP REPORTS AN INCREASE IN LONG DISTANCE TRAFFIC IN Q3 2004
TORONTO, Oct. 13 /CNW/ — The total long-distance traffic processed by
Telehop Communications for the quarter ended Sep. 30, 2004, showed a
15 per cent increase over the previous quarter of 2004, and a 14.5 per cent
increase over the comparable quarter ended Sep. 30, 2003.
Telehop’s total long-distance traffic for the quarter ended Sep. 30,
2004, was 38.4 million minutes in 5.2 million calls, versus 33.6 million
minutes in 4.6 million calls in Q3 2003. This represents an increase of
14.5 per cent in total minutes and 12.7 per cent in the total number of calls.
This traffic also represents an increase of 15% over the 33.4 million minutes
carried in Q2 2004, and a 12.8% increase over the 4.6 million calls in Q2,
2004.The increase in total number of calls is particularly gratifying as it is
indicative of Telehop’s increased market penetration in its target markets
despite stiff competition for these markets.
Total traffic for the nine months ended Sep. 30, 2004, was 106.5 million
minutes in 14.1 million calls versus 106.8 million minutes in 14.0 million
calls in the comparable period in 2003. Overall traffic for the nine months
ended September 30, 2004 has remained flat over the previous year but reflects
the fact that Telehop has deliberately de-emphasized the low margin, high
risk, wholesale business over the past nine months and has been successful at
replacing this traffic with higher margin retail traffic.
The company demonstrates continued strength in its balance sheet. Its
operations continue to be financed entirely from operations, and Telehop
currently has a strong cash position and no outstanding bank or other debt.
Ruth Bartholomeusz, chief operating officer of Telehop, stated: «Telehop
is particularly pleased with the continuing improvement in our call volumes
which reflect a continued increase in our customer base and our market
penetration over the past 9 months. These are the highest quarterly traffic
numbers ever for the company.»
"In the past quarter we successfully launched our new BroadTalk™ VOIP
service, two targeted long distance offerings to Loyalty Card operators and
Travel Agents, and also Canada’s first independent directory assistance
service with our new «10–10–620–0 Directory Assistance Program.»
«We continue to be diligent in lowering our cost of delivering a call,
and also our administrative and marketing costs, whilst simultaneously
improving the quality and the breadth of our service offerings to our
customers.»
About Telehop Communications Inc.
Telehop is a CRTC Licensed Class «A» Telecom Carrier, and one of the
largest alternative telecom providers to the residential & business market.
Telehop offers origination and termination services to other carriers
worldwide, including switchless resellers, and provides ’Equal Access’ Long
Distance and the branded «10–10–620» — ’Dial Around’ Service. It also provides
Flat Rate ’Hop’ calling in Southern Ontario and in the Metropolitan Montreal
area covering a population of approximately 8 million people, and provides
1–800 toll free numbers and Virtual Calling Cards, allowing calls from any
phone in North America to anywhere in the world. Telehop also offers the
branded «Broadtalk™» VOIP flat rate service to residential and small
business customers.
Shares Outstanding;- 12,437,000
Fully Diluted;- 13,521,500
