LandTel acquires Telliance LandTel, a European telecommunications company, has entered the Swiss market. Rotterdam-headquartered LandTel NV acquired Switzerland's Telliance AG on Jan. 28, 2000. Telliance AG in Zurich was previously a subsidiary of Germany's RWE-Telliance AG. LandTel NV is the holding company for all LandTel activities in Europe and owns Deutsche LandTel GmbH in Potsdam and LandTel France SAS in Paris. In August of last year, Deutsche LandTel GmbH made the headlines when the company was one of the big winners of the Wireless Local Loop sollicitation for tenders of Germany's telecommunications and postal regulatory authorities (RegTP). The company received licenses to operate wireless urban networks in many major German cities, including Munich, Cologne, Hannover, Hamburg, Dusseldorf, Leverkusen and Dortmund. Deutsche LandTel plans to put customer-ready network infrastructures into operation in all of the urban areas by mid-2000. In addition to telephone services, the company will concentrate on Internet services, according to Berend Koerber, Managing Director Business Development Europe of LandTel NV and Managing Director of Deutsche LandTel GmbH. It was also announced that LandTel France SAS has submitted an extensive application for Wireless Local Loop licenses for a large number of regions in France to the French ART regulatory authority on Jan. 31, 2000. Strong expansion planned in Switzerland With the addition of Zurich- based Telliance AG to its portfolio of European operational entities, LandTel is pursuing its course of Europe-wide expansion. The new acquisition will operate as LandTel Schweiz AG and start to put its own IP multi-service network into operation in the middle of the year. An extensive range of IP applications and added-value services are planned on the basis of an integrated language-data platform. In addition, LandTel Schweiz AG is also aiming to occupy a major market position in the area of symmetric digital subscriber lines (SDSL), especially for corporate customers in Switzerland. RWE-Telliance AG gave preference to LandTel when it sold off its Swiss subsidiary because LandTel seemed to be the most suitable candidate in terms of its ability to implement the company's plans with the experienced team already in place in Zurich. LandTel's strategy of Europe-wide expansion also played a major role in this decision. Berend Koerber was very satisfied with the most recent acquisition, which fits ideally into LandTel's strategy of European expansion. According to Koerber, "With the entire team of what was formerly Telliance AG and the teams of Deutsche LandTel in Potsdam and LandTel France in Paris, we can bundle our experience and strengths even more effectively. Switzerland will play a pivotal role in the context of our pan-European strategy." According to information from Koerber, further strategic acquisitions are planned. The goal is to build up a strong position in the telecommunication markets in all major European countries. John D. Meserve, LandTel's Managing Director for Strategic Affairs and Development explained: "Our goal is to make LandTel one of the leading brand names in the European telecommunications market. We have managed to enter the German, French and Swiss markets on a large scale, and we are planning to expand into other countries soon." John D. Meserve joined LandTel recently. Before he was for 10 years with the Bank of New York as a Senior Vice President. ots Original Text Service: Deutsche LandTel GmbH Internet: http://www.newsaktuell.de For further information, please contact: Deutsche LandTel GmbH, Berend Koerber, Am Luftschiffhafen 1, D-14471 Potsdam, Phone +49 (0) 331/9821-600, Fax +49 (0) 331/9821-606. PR agency: Unternehmensberatung Andreas Dripke GmbH, Phone +49 (0) 611/973- 150, Fax +49 (0) 611/719-290, e-mail andreas@dripke.de