First Pacific Company Limited

Press Release

First Pacific Company Limited's Indian joint venture, Escotel Mobile Communications Limited (Escotel), announced today that it has completed the launch of its cellular service in 23 cities -- more than any other cellular operator in India today.

Escotel, which is 49 per cent held by First Pacific and 51 per cent owned by India's Escorts Limited, has licenses to provide cellular services in three of the nation's 27 designated coverage areas, or "circles". Its circles, which have a combined population in excess of 100 million, include the states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh (West), which are outside Delhi, and Kerala, in the country's southwest.

Escotel is the only cellular operator in India to have launched full service in multiple cities in each of its circles. It has in excess of 11,500 customers, compared with 5,700 at the end of 1996.

Mr Chris Edwards, Chief Operating Officer of Escotel, said: "We are now in the second phase of project implementation and plan to cover 10 additional towns in our circles by year's end. It is our endeavour to significantly enhance the quality and coverage of our service in the towns where we are presently operational. We have already set up 24 hour customer care centers in each circle, with well trained customer service staff, proficient in English, Hindi and Malayalam. An efficient distribution network has also been established, with franchisees and dealers in all important towns, so as to remain within easy reach of customers."

First Pacific, a Hong Kong based, Asian-oriented conglomerate has nearly 53,000 employees in 50 countries working in the areas of Marketing & Distribution, Telecommunications, Property and Banking. Its profit before exceptionals rose 32 per cent in 1996 to US$202 million on US$7.026 billion in turnover.

Escorts Limited is the flagship of Escorts Group, a leading Indian conglomerate with activities in the areas of agri-machinery, construction equipment, automotive and railway products, financial services and telecommunications. The annual turnover of the Group is nearly US$1 billion.

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